manipulate

1 to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means the con man would slyly manipulate the emotions of his marks in order to win their sympathy and trust Synonyms exploit, play (upon) Related Words engineer, finagle, jockey, maneuver; beguile, bluff, cozen, deceive, delude, dupe, fool, gull, hoax, hoodwink, kid, shanghai, snow, take in, trick; intrigue, machinate, plot, scheme; arrange, contrive, devise, finesse, mastermind; cheat, chisel, con, defraud, fleece, gyp, hustle, swindle

2 to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently a scientist effortlessly manipulating a slew of statistics while testifying before Congress Synonyms address, contend (with), cope (with), field, grapple (with), hack, manage, maneuver, handle, negotiate, play, swing, take, treatRelated Words engineer, finesse, jockey; bring off, carry off, carry out, get off, pull; command, direct, guide, steer; control, micromanage, regulate, run; react (to), respond (to)Near Antonyms botch, bungle, foozle, fumble, goof (up), louse up, mess (up), mishandle, muff, scamp

3 to plan out usually with subtle skill or care manipulated the schedule of presidential primaries so that the choice of the party elders would win the nomination Synonyms contrive, finagle, finesse, frame, machinate, maneuver, engineer, mastermind, negotiate, wangleRelated Words arrange, concert, conclude, hammer out, work out; angle (for), compass, intrigue, plot, scheme; connive; brew, concoct, cook (up), hatch; captain, command, conduct, direct, handle, manage, quarterback, run; gerrymanderNear Antonyms blow, bobble, botch, bungle, butcher, flub, fumble, gum (up), louse up, mangle, mess (up), mishandle, muff