Meanings
verbmanipulate (third-person singular simple present manipulates, present participle manipulating, simple past and past participle manipulated)
present singular third person manipulates · participle present manipulating · participle past manipulated · past manipulated
- transitivemedicineTo handle and move a body part, either as an examination or for a therapeutic purpose
- datedintransitiveTo use the hands, especially in scientific experiments.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbinfluence or control shrewdly or deviously
Similar
pull stringspull wires
verbtamper, with the purpose of deception
verbmaintain influence over (others or oneself) skillfully, usually to one's advantage
Similar
keep in linecontrol
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Back-formation from manipulation.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans manipuleer
- manipuleerinfluence or manage
Bulgarian боравя, манипулирам
- боравя (boravja)influence or manage
- манипулирам (manipuliram)move with the hands
Catalan manipular, manipular
- manipularinfluence or manage
- manipularmove with the hands
Chinese Mandarin 操纵
- 操纵 (cāo zuò)move with the hands
Danish manipulere
- manipulereinfluence or manage
Dutch beïnvloeden, manipuleren
- beïnvloedeninfluence or manage
- manipulereninfluence or manage
- manipulerenmove with the hands
Esperanto manipuli
- manipuliinfluence or manage
Finnish käsitellä, manipuloida
- käsitelläinfluence or manage
- manipuloidainfluence or manage
- liikuttaahandle and move a body part
- liikutellahandle and move a body part
- käsitellämove with the hands
French manipuler
- manipulerinfluence or manage
German manipulieren
- manipuliereninfluence or manage
Hungarian manipulál, manipulál
- manipulálinfluence or manage
- manipulálmove with the hands
- kezelmove with the hands
Icelandic ráðskast með e-n, handstýra e-m
- ráðskast með e-ninfluence or manage
- handstýra e-minfluence or manage
- meðhöndlamove with the hands
- handleikamove with the hands
Indonesian memanipulasi
- memanipulasimove with the hands
Irish lámhaigh, lámhaigh
- lámhaighinfluence or manage
- lámhaighhandle and move a body part
Italian manipolare, plagiare
- manipolareinfluence or manage
- plagiareinfluence or manage
- manipolarehandle and move a body part
- manipolaremove with the hands
Korean 조종하다
- 조종하다 (jojonghada)move with the hands
Norwegian Bokmål manipulere
- manipulereinfluence or manage
Norwegian Nynorsk manipulere
- manipulereinfluence or manage
Polish manipulować, zmanipulować
- manipulowaćinfluence or manage
- zmanipulowaćinfluence or manage
- manipulowaćmove with the hands
- zmanipulowaćmove with the hands
Portuguese manipular, manipular
- manipularinfluence or manage
- manipularhandle and move a body part
- manipularmove with the hands
- manusearmove with the hands
Romanian manipula, manipula
- manipulainfluence or manage
- manipulamove with the hands
Russian манипули́ровать, манипули́ровать
- манипули́ровать (manipulírovatʹ)influence or manage
- манипули́ровать (manipulírovatʹ)move with the hands
- управля́ть (upravljátʹ)move with the hands
Spanish manipular, manipular
- manipularinfluence or manage
- manipularhandle and move a body part
- manipularmove with the hands
Swedish manipulera
- manipulerainfluence or manage
Tamil கையாள், இயக்கு
- கையாள் (kaiyāḷ)influence or manage
- இயக்கு (iyakku)influence or manage
- அசை (acai)handle and move a body part
- கையாள் (kaiyāḷ)move with the hands
Turkish manipüle etmek
- manipüle etmekinfluence or manage
Ukrainian маніпулюва́ти, маніпулюва́ти
- маніпулюва́ти (manipuljuváty)influence or manage
- маніпулюва́ти (manipuljuváty)move with the hands
Vietnamese điều khiển, thao túng
- điều khiểninfluence or manage
- thao túnginfluence or manage
Cite this entry
APA
manipulate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manipulate
MLA
“manipulate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manipulate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “manipulate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/manipulate.
Source: manipulate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.