Handling

How to spell handling

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce handling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does handling mean?

1. verbDealing with or managing a person, task, or situation.
2. nounThe way something is touched, moved, or processed, or a fee charged for such service.
3. nounThe way a vehicle responds to being steered and controlled.

Handling in a sentence

• verb

  She is handling the customer complaints while her colleague is away.

• noun

  The online order added a small charge for postage and handling.

• noun

  The new tyres improved the car's handling on wet roads.

• verb

  The manager praised the team for handling the crisis so calmly.

• noun

  The fragile vase needs gentle handling during the move.

• noun

  Reviewers praised the sports car for its precise handling around corners.

Where does handling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grows straight out of the native Old English noun 'hand', the familiar word for the end of the arm. From that noun came the verb 'handlian', meaning to touch, feel, or deal with using the hands, formed with the small frequentative ending '-le' that turns a noun into a verb of repeated action, much as 'sparkle' relates to 'spark'. Adding '-ing' produced 'handling', which began as a literal description of touching or feeling something and gradually widened to cover any sort of managing or controlling. By the modern era it carried abstract senses too, such as the handling of money, of difficult people, or of a vehicle on the road. Because every part of the word is plain Germanic and spelled phonetically, the spelling itself is unusually transparent and free of silent traps.

How the word is built

• hand (the Old English noun for the part of the arm)
• -le (frequentative verb suffix forming 'handle')
• -ing (forming a gerund or present participle)