manipulate

verb

ma·nip·u·late | \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt

manipulated; manipulating

Definition of manipulate

1 : to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner manipulate a pencil manipulate a machine

2a : to manage or utilize skillfully quantify our data and manipulate it statistically— S. L. Payne

b : to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage being used and manipulated by the knowing men around him — New Republic

3 : to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose : doctor suspected that the police reports were manipulated— Evelyn G. Cruickshanks

Other Words from manipulate Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about manipulate

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Other Words from manipulate

manipulatable \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlā-tə-bəl

\ adjective

manipulation \ mə-ˌni-pyə-ˈlā-shən

\ noun

manipulator \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlā-tər

\ noun

manipulatory \ mə-ˈni-pyə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē

\ adjective

Examples of manipulate in a Sentence

The baby is learning to manipulate blocks. The mechanical arms are manipulated by a computer. The doctor manipulated my back. The program was designed to organize and manipulate large amounts of data. He's always been good at manipulating numbers in his head. As part of the experiment, students manipulated light and temperature to see how it affected the plants. She knows how to manipulate her parents to get what she wants. He felt that he had been manipulated by the people he trusted most. The editorial was a blatant attempt to manipulate public opinion. He's accused of trying to manipulate the price of the stock.

Recent Examples on the Web

DoApp manipulated the screen of the iPhone — and later the camera flash — so that it could be used as a handy light. — Reed Albergotti, oregonlive, "How Apple uses its App Store to copy the best ideas," 6 Sep. 2019 The answer to weirdness in general -- baiting, manipulating, lying, guilting, throwing tantrums -- is to be aggressively unweird. — Carolyn Hax, al, "Carolyn Hax: Is there a sensitive way to offer to be a surrogate?," 4 Sep. 2019 In true Littlefinger style, the Chamberlain is constantly playing different Skeksis against each other, and manipulating Gelflings for his own ends, and holding important information close to his chest until it can be deployed against an enemy. — Christian Holub, EW.com, "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," 31 Aug. 2019 For the very source of life energies of Earth have become the castrated target of anile bamboozlery from homosapiens' rabid attempts to manipulate the omnipotent Forces of Nature! — Randall Roberts, chicagotribune.com, "Pedro Bell, Chicago-born artist who created Funkadelic’s cosmic album covers, dies at 69," 29 Aug. 2019 That comes from a greater ability to manipulate an SBS. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "How Scattering Light Could Power a Microchip Revolution," 20 Aug. 2019 Nothing has yet stopped online stores’ algorithms from lying to increase sales, nor curbed Facebook’s actual ability to manipulate users’ moods. — Kentaro Toyama, The Conversation, "Bring on the technology bans!," 19 Aug. 2019 Though Nix’s presentation was well received at the time, once Cambridge Analytica was exposed, his speech was widely seen as sinister portrayal of the company’s attempts to manipulate the public. — Olivia Goldhill, Quartz, "A ‘big data’ firm sells Cambridge Analytica’s methods to global politicians, documents show," 14 Aug. 2019 He is described as a scientist who gained the ability to manipulate gravity after a faulty experiment. — Brett Molina, USA TODAY, "New Overwatch hero Sigma has arrived. What to know about abilities, origin and more," 23 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'manipulate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near manipulate

Statistics for manipulate

Last Updated

13 Sep 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for manipulate

The first known use of manipulate was in 1834

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More Definitions for manipulate

manipulate

verb

English Language Learners Definition of manipulate

: to move or control (something) with your hands or by using a machine

medical : to move (muscles and bones) with your hands as a form of treatment

: to use or change (numbers, information, etc.) in a skillful way or for a particular purpose

See the full definition for manipulate in the English Language Learners Dictionary

manipulate

verb

ma·nip·u·late | \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt

manipulated; manipulating

Kids Definition of manipulate

1 : to operate, use, or move with the hands or by mechanical means She learned to manipulate the levers of the machine.

2 : to manage skillfully and especially with intent to deceive The candidates tried to manipulate public opinion.

manipulate

transitive verb

ma·nip·u·late | \ mə-ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt

manipulated; manipulating

Medical Definition of manipulate

1 : to treat or operate with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner manipulate the fragments of a broken bone into correct position

2a : to manage or utilize skillfully

b : to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage

Other Words from manipulate

manipulative \ -ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt-iv

, -lət-

\ adjective

manipulativeness noun

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manipulate

transitive verb

ma·nip·u·late | \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt

manipulated; manipulating

Legal Definition of manipulate

: to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose specifically : to affect (the price of securities) artificially in order to deceive or mislead investors

Other Words from manipulate

manipulable \ mə-ˈni-pyə-lə-bəl

\ adjective

manipulation \ mə-ˌni-pyə-ˈlā-shən

\ noun

manipulative \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlā-tiv, -lə-tiv

\ adjective

manipulatively adverb

manipulativeness noun

manipulator \ mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlā-tər

\ noun

manipulatory \ mə-ˈni-pyə-lə-ˌtȯr-ē