1
as in abusing
to abuse physically
charges that the police manhandled peaceful protesters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bullying
to inflict physical or emotional harm upon
if you see anyone manhandling a child, you should call the authorities
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of manhandling
San Francisco tackle Williams is 6-foot-5 and 320, and has been manhandling NFL linemen since Hufanga was a boy running around his parents’ farm in Oregon.
—
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Luca Evans, Denver Post, 6 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manhandling
Verb
-
And when markets fail, public institutions must act to prevent dominant players from abusing their power.—
Ryan Whitwam,
ArsTechnica,
5 Sep. 2025
-
Langley says Axon is a monopolist abusing its market position to choke out competition.—
Danielle Chemtob,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Wake County schools violated policy when staff did not address the effects of bullying on Danielle, said an April 2024 letter from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.—
Fred Clasen-Kelly,
ABC News,
11 Sep. 2025
-
The complaint also alleged that school officials failed in their response to the plaintiff’s complaints and that coaches were aware of the threats of bullying during the camp but did not take meaningful action.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
While Qataris may now indeed question the value of their military cooperation with the United States and its designation of Qatar as a major non-NATO ally, Turkey’s military presence in the country also failed to prevent Israel from attacking.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Show Viz Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest had counter-attacking licked.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Jamie Simpson of Covington was sentenced in March to 60 years in prison for holding his wife captive and torturing her for hours before barricading himself inside her home in a lengthy standoff with police.—
Quinlan Bentley,
The Enquirer,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Emmett was just 14 when he was kidnapped from his great-uncle’s house by two White men who later admitted to beating and torturing the teen before shooting him in the head and throwing his body into the Tallahatchie River, weighed down by a 75-pound cotton gin fan.—
Rebekah Riess,
CNN Money,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
City enters Week 2 of the new campaign as Premier League leader after mauling its way to a 4-0 win over Wolves on opening weekend.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
With no special-case engineering and new data, Helix can recover gracefully from mishandling or collisions.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Sep. 2025
-
An infatuation with war is not the same as being guilty of mishandling classified information.—
Isaac Saul,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The entertainment giant accused Sling TV’s parent of ambushing it with the offering, allegedly without consultation, to capitalize on the starts of the college football and NFL seasons.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The president has constantly mocked Powell on social media, and accused him of mismanaging renovations of the Fed’s headquarters, even ambushing the Fed chief with a new cost estimate for a facility renovation in front of rolling television cameras.—
Tobias Burns,
The Hill,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The Jays spent much of their 2025 rise beating up on the Yankees, and three September games at Yankee Stadium presented a chance for one last jab.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Needless to say, beating the Jets was a good feeling for the 41-year-old signal caller.—
Evan Massey,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Manhandling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manhandling. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share