handle

Etymology 1

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

noun

1. The part of an object which is (designed to be) held in the hand when used or moved.
   Once his fingers strayed to the handle of his hunting-knife, and I should have interfered had I not been conscious that Wickliffe was on his guard. 1854, John Hovey Robinson, Silver-knife: or, The hunters of the Rocky Mountains, page 133
   By pushing the fork downwards so that its teeth pass the handle of the stopper, and then turning the cover of the desiccator 90°, the handle of the stopper falls into the furrows and rests upon them. 1902, “Atomic Weight of Lanthanum”, in Journal of the Chemical Society, volume 81, part 2
   By keeping the handle of the bellows fixed in any given position the lung within the chamber could be kept for a short time at any desired degree of distension, and by pressing at intervals upon the bag, air could be forced to and fro between the bad and the lung outside the chamber, without distending the air within it. 1905, “Origin of the Respiratory Sounds”, in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, volume 37
   But first they were gonna stop in Las Vegas / It's off to Las Vegas / To check out the lounges / Pull a few handles 1972, Frank Zappa (lyrics and music), “Billy the Mountain”
2. An instrument for effecting a purpose (either literally or figuratively); a tool, or an opportunity or pretext.
   Nothing can be more reprehensible, or wicked, than to make Christian Missions a handle for political expansion. 1894, Robert Needham Cust, Essay on the prevailing methods of the evangelization of the non-Christian world, page 70
   Many investigators feel that the double requirement for the antigen-recognition by cytotoxic T cells or DTH-reactive T cells may provide a handle for solving the T-cell receptor puzzle, and that anti-Id reagents are to be used in this approach. 1978, William Hay Taliaferro, John Herbert Humphrey, Advances in immunology, page 224
   Indeed, at the beginning of the session he was careful to make "no declarations of what might hereafter be measures, so as to give anybody a handle for fixing him down to any particular system." 1997, Allen S. Johnson, A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville, page 95
3. (gambling) The gross amount of wagering within a given period of time or for a given event at one of more establishments.
   The daily handle of a Las Vegas casino is typically millions of dollars.
   For a casino table game,the handle is difficult to determine, as it consists of all the bets made in every game, whether by chip or by cash play. 2001, William Norman Thompson, Gambling in America: an encyclopedia of history, issues, and society, page 421
   Note here, however, that the casino's "edge" (its expected value per unit bet, or, in casino jargon, the house p.c.) in table games is expressed as a percentage of the handle and not as a percentage of the drop (even though these might sometimes be the same). 2001, Harold L. Vogel, Travel industry economics: a guide for financial analysis, page 139
   The results for the dog racing model indicate that increases in lottery sales and decreases in horse racing handle and casino revenues in the state in question statistically increase dog racing handle. 2007, Douglas M. Walker, The economics of casino gambling, page 77
4. (textiles) The tactile qualities of a fabric, e.g., softness, firmness, elasticity, fineness, resilience, and other qualities perceived by touch.
5. (slang) A name, nickname or pseudonym.
   We sat together at the restaurant and asked him about his handle (CB name). 1997, Jack Canfield, Hanoch McCarty, A 4th course of chicken soup for the soul, page 312
   This was so unexpected that Jack came close to gabbling out his real name instead of the one he had used at the Golden Spoon, the name he also used if the people who picked him up asked for his handle. 2001, Stephen King, Peter Straub, The Talisman
   "I don't actually know his birth name. He just uses his handle." 2007, Jon Evans, Invisible Armies, page 253
6. (slang) A title attached to one's name, such as Doctor or Colonel.
   The successful businessman was knighted and acquired a handle to his name.
7. (computing) A reference to an object or structure that can be stored in a variable.
   This article describes how to find the module name from the window handle.
   A handle for a type instance is similar to an open file descriptor; it is used to reference that type instance when performing operations on it. 1989, Petrus Maria Gerardus Apers, Gio Wiederhold, Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Very Large Data, page 383
   By contrast, when a host function creates a handle for a nested function and returns that handle to a calling program, the host function's workspace is created and remains in existence for as long as the function handle remains in existence. 2008, Stephen J. Chapman, MATLAB programming for engineers, page 354
8. (Australia, chiefly Northern Territory, New Zealand) A 10 fluid ounce (285 mL) glass of beer.
   A shudder passes over him and he orders another handle of beer. 2002, Kate Duignan, Breakwater, Victoria University Press, page 86
   Imagine staring into the heavens on a clear night and seeing a handle of beer floating amongst the stars, or an angel, or the face of a famous celebrity. 2006, Rod Hylands, Lateral Connection, page 68
   When ordering a beer, you'll get either a handle (mug) or a one-liter jug (pitcher). 2008, Stephanie E. Butler, Fodor's 2009 New Zealand, page 571
9. (US) A half-gallon (1.75-liter) bottle of alcohol.
   Josh bought a fifth of Evan Williams for Andrew as a token of gratitude and Ray, because of the financial constraints, purchased the cheapest handle of whiskey he could find: Heaven Hill. 2014, Ray Stoeser, Josh Cuffe, Bury My Body Down By the Highway Side, page 83
10. (geography, Newfoundland and Labrador, rare) A point, an extremity of land.
    the Handle of the Sug in Newfoundland
11. (topology) A topological space homeomorphic to a ball but viewed as a product of two lower-dimensional balls.
    Such a 2-handle cancels the 1-handle so the manifold is D⁴. 2003, Gordana Matić, Clint McCrory, Topology and geometry of manifolds, page 182
12. (algebraic geometry) The smooth, irreducible subcurve of a comb which connects to each of the other components in exactly one point.

Etymology 2

From Middle English handlen, from Old English handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”), from Proto-Germanic *handlōną (“to take, grip, feel”), equivalent to hand + -le. Cognate with West Frisian hanneljen, hanljen (“to handle, treat”), Dutch handelen (“to handle, deal, act, negotiate”), German handeln (“to act, trade, negotiate, behave”), Swedish handla (“to buy, trade, deal”), Icelandic höndla (“to handle”).

verb

1. (transitive) To touch; to feel or hold with the hand(s).
   Encourage the client to handle her breasts to grow accustomed to touching them, thus enabling milk production in the first few days after birth. 1995, Adele Pillitteri, Pocket Guide for Maternal & Child Health Nursing, page 63
   Robert Huth handled a Bentley shot, only for the offence to go unnoticed. February 12, 2011, Les Roopanarine, “Birmingham 1 - 0 Stoke”, in BBC
2. (transitive, rare) To accustom to the hand; to take care of with the hands.
   The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to house and handle their colts for at least six months every year. 1679, William Temple, An essay upon the advancement of trade in Ireland.
3. (transitive) To manage, use, or wield with the hands.
   Light on his feet for a big man, he handled the rifle like a pistol. 1976, Mel Hallin Bolster, Crazy Snake and the Smoked Meat Rebellion, page 66
4. (transitive) To manage, control, or direct.
   The findings emerged from questionnaires filled in by 2,211 staff in 145 wards of 55 hospitals in England and Wales and 105 observations of care of dementia patients. Two-thirds of staff said they had not had enough training to provide proper care, 50% said they had not been trained how to communicate properly with such patients and 54% had not been told how to handle challenging or aggressive behaviour. December 16, 2011, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian
   You also handle the accounts for Julie Wojakowski, what about her? Any recent deposits in that amount? 2015, Nora Quick, Case of the Missing Millionaire
   University station opened in May 1978 and was designed to handle around 500,000 passengers a year, a significantly lower figure than the 3.5 million passengers who now use it. 2019 October, “Consultation on University Station designs”, in Modern Railways, page 17
5. (transitive) To treat, to deal with (in a specified way).
   she handled the news with grace
   the Persians handled the French ambassador shamefully
6. (transitive) To deal with (a subject, argument, topic, or theme) in speaking, in writing, or in art.
   If traditional painting handled the same themes again and again, a truth which people are apt to overlook is that we often get startlingly different compositions of the same theme or episode. 1976, Krishna Chaitanya, A History of Indian Painting: The modern period, page 21
7. (transitive) To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands; hence, to buy and sell.
   a merchant handles a variety of goods, or a large stock
8. (transitive, rare) To be concerned with; to be an expert in.
9. (transitive) To put up with; to endure (and continue to function).
   I can't handle this hot weather.
   For example, a program that loads data from a file needs to handle the case where that file is not found. 2014, Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene, Learning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban
10. (intransitive) To use the hands.
11. (soccer, intransitive) To illegally touch the ball with the hand or arm; to commit handball.
12. (intransitive) To behave in a particular way when handled (managed, controlled, directed).
    the car handles well