manage Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb be successful; achieve a goal
    negociate; bring off; carry off; pull off.
    • She succeeded in persuading us all
    • I managed to carry the box upstairs
    • She pulled it off, even though we never thought her capable of it
    • The pianist negociated the difficult runs
  2. verb be in charge of, act on, or dispose of
    handle; deal; care.
    • I can deal with this crew of workers
    • This blender can't handle nuts
    • She managed her parents' affairs after they got too old
  3. verb come to terms with
    contend; deal; cope; get by; grapple; make out; make do.
    • We got by on just a gallon of gas
    • They made do on half a loaf of bread every day
  4. verb watch and direct
    oversee; superintend; supervise.
    • Who is overseeing this project?
  5. verb achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods
    finagle; wangle.
  6. verb carry on or function
    do.
    • We could do with a little more help around here
  7. verb handle effectively
    handle; wield.
    • The burglar wielded an axe
    • The young violinist didn't manage her bow very well

WordNet

Man"age noun
Etymology
F. manège, It. maneggio, fr. maneggiare to manage, fr. L.manushand. Perhaps somewhat influenced by F. ménage housekeeping, OF. mesnage, akin to E. mansion. See Manual, and cf. Manege.
Definitions
  1. The handling or government of anything, but esp. of a horse; management; administration. See Manege. Obs.
    Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold. Bacon.
    Down, down I come; like glistering Phaëthon Wanting the manage of unruly jades. Shak.
    The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl. Shak.
    ✍ This word, in its limited sense of management of a horse, has been displaced by manege; in its more general meaning, by management.
Man"age transitive verb
Etymology
From Manage, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Managed ; present participle & verbal noun Managing
Definitions
  1. To have under control and direction; to conduct; to guide; to administer; to treat; to handle.
    Long tubes are cumbersome, and scarce to be easily managed. Sir I. Newton.
    What wars Imanage, and what wreaths I gain. Prior.
  2. Hence: Esp., to guide by careful or delicate treatment; to wield with address; to make subservient by artful conduct; to bring around cunningly to one's plans.
    It was so much his interest to manage his Protestant subjects. Addison
    .
    It was not her humor to manage those over whom she had gained an ascendant. Bp. Hurd.
  3. To train in the manege, as a horse; to exercise in graceful or artful action.
  4. To treat with care; to husband. Dryden.
  5. To bring about; to contrive. Shak. Syn. -- To direct; govern; control; wield; order; contrive; concert; conduct; transact.
Man"age intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To direct affairs; to carry on business or affairs; to administer.
    Leave them to manage for thee. Dryden
    .

Webster 1913