handling, vbl. n.
(ˈhændlɪŋ)
[f. handle v.1 and v.2 + -ing1.]
I. The action of the vb. handle.
1. a. The action of touching, feeling, or grasping with the hand; management with the hand, wielding, manipulation; laying hands on; treatment in which the hands are effectively (or roughly) used.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 182 æt ðam cristenan menn..ðone ðe se eadiᵹa Benedictus na handlunge..fram his bendum alysde. a 1225 Ancr. R. 60 Mid sweorde of deadliche hondlunge. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xxiii. (1495) 71 In a stronge man and flesshly the pulse is gropyd and knowe wyth stronge and harde handlyng. 1512 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 608 Made and set vpp after the best handlyng and fourme of good workmanship. 1669 Pepys Diary 19 May, To perform what was commanded, in the handling of their arms. 1795 Gentl. Mag. July 581/2 Irony, like Satire, is one of those edged tools which require careful handling. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. ix. (1889) 76 There might be some reason in the rough handling he had got. |
b. Quality perceived by feeling with the hand.
| 1881 J. P. Sheldon Dairy Farming 8/1 Fat soon accumulates..and forms the ‘quality’ or ‘handling’ which indicates the extent to which she [a cow] may be considered fit for the butcher. |
c. In games, the illegal touching of the ball.
| 1882 in Charles-Edwards & Richardson They saw it Happen (1958) 300 For a breach of rule, which forbids handling, a free kick was awarded against the Etonians. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 429/1 Handling, or Hands, touching the ball with any part of the arm when in play. Only the goal-keeper can do so without a penalty. ‘Hands’ is given against the offender. |
d. [handle v.1 1 b] The way in which a motor vehicle handles.
| 1962 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 143/1 Its handling was very secure, but the car was badly affected by side winds. 1967 Autocar 28 Dec. 5/3 In general the handling of the car was satisfactory. |
2. fig. Dealing with a thing or person; treatment; management.
| 1530 Palsgr. 229/1 Handelyng, entreating, traictement. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 21 Apply your selfe to the handelyng of the materys of the commyn wele. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 66 The Venetians, Ragusans, and Marseillians have great handling with them. 1776 Johnson 28 Mar. in Boswell, A woman of fortune being used to the handling of money, spends it judiciously. 1886 J. R. Rees Pleas. Book-Worm ii. 37 De Quincey, with his marvellous handling of English prose. |
3. Artistic manipulation: cf. handle v.1 7.
| 1771 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. iv. (1876) 360 What the painters call handling; that is, a lightness of pencil that implies great practice, and gives the appearance of being done with ease. 1840 Thackeray Crit. Rev. Wks. 1886 XXIII. 147 A miniature..remarkable for its brilliancy of colour and charming freedom of handling. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 231 Handling is that part of the mechanical ‘execution’ or manipulation of a picture which exhibits the pencilling or play of the brush. |
4. [f. handle v.2] The action or process of putting on the handles of vessels, etc.
| 1764 V. Green Surv. Worcester 232 Part of the business called handling and spouting, i.e. putting the hand to cups. |
5. attrib.
| 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt II. xxix. 211 If they were not touched in the right handling-place. 1882 J. Paton in Encycl. Brit. XIV. 384/2 After colouring, the hides pass on to the handlers or handling pits. 1895 Daily News 27 Nov. 5/3 Under Rugby Union rules..a determined affort is being made to revive the interest in the handling game [Rugby Union Football]. 1927 Observer 27 Mar. 28 In spite of the progress Rugby has made, the Association game at the Schools..has fully held its own with the handling code. 1949 Archit. Rev. CV. 218 The east bay includes..the polymer handling bay. 1954 Economist 11 Sept. 8/2 The central terminal area, which will hold the permanent control tower and the passenger handling buildings, is now being completed. 1955 Times 6 July 4/4 A long handling rush by Britain looked dangerous and from a loose scrum in the opposing twenty-five their backs gained possession for O'Reilly to cut in and score. 1962 Which? Dec. 367/1 Labour costs were covered, but there was a ‘handling charge’ of 2s. 6d. 1969 Times 13 Jan. 11/2 The increase in the handling margins would be nearer to 100 than 10 per cent. |
II. † 6. A handle. Obs.
| c 1450 Lonelich Grail xxviii. 275 Thus the lettres of the handelyng spak. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. 117 The swerd..in the handelyng thereof was closed on of thoo iiii nayles that were in Cristis handis and feet. c 1500 Melusine xix. 65 They were as grete as the handlyng of a fan. |