manipulate
verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt 
manipulated; manipulating
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
2
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
Evelyn G. CruickshanksExamples 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
Even a congressional candidate has alleged that humans manipulated the weather behind the Fourth of July weekend floods in Texas, which left at least 120 people dead and more than 170 still missing.
—Brandi D. Addison, Austin American Statesman, 12 July 2025
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to run malicious code or access other parts of your system by manipulating memory.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 11 July 2025
In particular, baseless claims that the government is somehow manipulating or controlling the weather to create such events have gained significant traction, getting support from numerous Republican lawmakers.
—David K. Li, NBC news, 10 July 2025
Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially.
—Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for manipulate
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Brandi D. Addison, Austin American Statesman, 12 July 2025
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to run malicious code or access other parts of your system by manipulating memory.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 11 July 2025
In particular, baseless claims that the government is somehow manipulating or controlling the weather to create such events have gained significant traction, getting support from numerous Republican lawmakers.
—David K. Li, NBC news, 10 July 2025
Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially.
—Anne Marie D. Lee, CBS News, 10 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for manipulate
Cite this Entry
“Manipulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manipulate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
manipulate
verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
1
: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially with skill
manipulate the trackball
2
: to manage or use skillfully
manipulate masses of statistics
3
: to manage especially with intent to deceive
manipulate accounts
manipulate public opinion
Medical Definition
manipulate
transitive verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
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
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
manipulativeness
noun
Legal Definition
manipulate
transitive verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
: 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
manipulatively
adverb
manipulativeness
noun
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