Adjacent Words

manipulate definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: influence or control shrewdly or deviously; "He manipulated public opinion in his favor" [syn: manipulate, pull strings, pull wires]
2: hold something in one's hands and move it
3: tamper, with the purpose of deception; "Fudge the figures"; "cook the books"; "falsify the data" [syn: fudge, manipulate, fake, falsify, cook, wangle, misrepresent]
4: manipulate in a fraudulent manner; "rig prices" [syn: rig, manipulate]
5: control (others or oneself) or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage; "She manipulates her boss"; "She is a very controlling mother and doesn't let her children grow up"; "The teacher knew how to keep the class in line"; "she keeps in line" [syn: manipulate, keep in line, control]
6: treat manually, as with massage, for therapeutic purposed

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-lated; -lating) Etymology: back-formation from manipulation, from French, from manipuler to handle an apparatus in chemistry, ultimately from Latin manipulus Date: 1834 1. to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner 2. a. to manage or utilize skillfully b. to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage 3. to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose ; doctor • manipulatable adjective • manipulation noun • manipulative adjective • manipulatively adverb • manipulativeness noun • manipulator noun • manipulatory adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 handle, treat, or use, esp. skilfully (a tool, question, material, etc.). 2 manage (a person, situation, etc.) to one's own advantage, esp. unfairly or unscrupulously. 3 manually examine and treat (a part of the body). 4 Computing alter, edit, or move (text, data, etc.). 5 stimulate (the genitals). Derivatives: manipulable adj. manipulability n. manipulatable adj. manipulation n. manipulator n. manipulatory adj. Etymology: back-form. f. manipulation f. F manipulation f. mod.L manipulatio (as MANIPLE), after F manipuler

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Manipulate Ma*nip"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Manipulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Manipulating.] [LL. manipulatus, p. p. of manipulare to lead by the hand, fr. L. manipulus. See Maniple.] 1. To treat, work, or operate with the hands, especially when knowledge and dexterity are required; to manage in hand work; to handle; as, to manipulate scientific apparatus. 2. To control the action of, by management; as, to manipulate a convention of delegates; to manipulate the stock market; also, to manage artfully or fraudulently; as, to manipulate accounts, or election returns.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Manipulate Ma*nip"u*late, v. i. To use the hands in dexterous operations; to do hand work; specifically, to manage the apparatus or instruments used in scientific work, or in artistic or mechanical processes; also, specifically, to use the hand in mesmeric operations.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(manipulates, manipulating, manipulated) 1. If you say that someone manipulates people, you disapprove of them because they skilfully force or persuade people to do what they want. He is a very difficult character. He manipulates people... She's always borrowing my clothes and manipulating me to give her vast sums of money... They'll have kids who are two, three, who are manipulating them into buying toys. VERB: V n, V n to-inf, V n into -ing [disapproval] • manipulation (manipulations) ...repeated criticism or manipulation of our mind... N-VAR 2. If you say that someone manipulates an event or situation, you disapprove of them because they use or control it for their own benefit, or cause it to develop in the way they want. She was unable, for once, to control and manipulate events... VERB: V n [disapproval] • manipulation ...accusations of political manipulation. N-VAR 3. If you manipulate something that requires skill, such as a complicated piece of equipment or a difficult idea, you operate it or process it. The puppets are expertly manipulated by Liz Walker... VERB: V n • manipulation ...science that requires only the simplest of mathematical manipulations. N-VAR 4. If someone manipulates your bones or muscles, they skilfully move and press them with their hands in order to push the bones into their correct position or make the muscles less stiff. The way he can manipulate my leg has helped my arthritis so much. VERB: V n • manipulation A permanent cure will only be effected by acupuncture, chiropractic or manipulation. N-VAR

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a., v. n. Work or operate with the hands, handle.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, adulterate, angle, barnstorm, be responsible for, beguile, bleed, bleed white, call the signals, captain, carry on, carry out, carry through, choreograph, come in contact, command, conduct, contrive, control, cook, copilot, deal with, direct, dispense, do with, doctor, drain, drive, employ, engineer, exercise, exert, exploit, fake, falsify, feel, feel of, fiddle, finagle, finesse, finger, flick, fly, gerrymander, govern, handle, head, head up, ill-use, impose upon, influence, intrigue, jockey, juggle, lead, lead on, load, machinate, make go, make the rules, make use of, manage, maneuver, mastermind, milk, misuse, negotiate, officer, operate, orchestrate, order, pack, palm, palpate, paw, peel off, perform on, pilot, plant, play, play games, play on, plot, ply, poke at, practice, prescribe, presume upon, prod, pull strings, pull the strings, quarterback, regulate, retouch, rig, run, salt, scheme, see to, skipper, solo, sophisticate, stack, steer, stroke, suck dry, swing, take advantage of, take care of, take command, take the lead, tamper with, tap, thumb, touch, twiddle, use, use ill, utilize, wangle, wield, work, work on, work upon