▪ I. manage, n.
(ˈmænɪdʒ)
Forms: α. 6–7 mannage, 7 man(n)adge, 6– manage. Also (in senses 1–3) manège. β. 7 mennage, 6– menage, (9 erron. ménage).
[ad. It. maneggio (perh. through the F. manege, now -ège; but Fr. lexicographers have not found the word earlier than in Cotgr. 1611), vbl. n. f. maneggiare: see manage v. The earliest Eng. examples show assimilation of the ending to the frequent suffix -age; but in senses 1–3 the Fr. spelling was introduced in the 17th c., and is now usual: see manège. The β forms prob. arose from a confusion, on the part of Eng. writers, of this word with F. menage act of leading, f. mener to lead; there is also some evidence of confusion with F. ménage household: see ménage.]
1. The training, handling, and directing of a horse in its paces; a training to good paces. the manage: the art of training and managing horses. Obs. exc. arch. (Now usually manège.)
| α a 1586 Sidney Astr. & Stella Sonn. ‘I on my horse’, He..now hath made me to his hand so right, That in the Manage my selfe takes delight. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 52 Speake tearmes of manage to thy bounding Steed. 1612 Two Noble K. v. iv, The hot horse..Forgets schoole dooing, being therein traind And of kind mannadge. 1667 Duchess of Newcastle Life Dk. of N. (1886) ii. 99 His chief pastime and divertisement consisted in the manage of the two afore-mentioned horses. 1715–20 Pope Iliad xv. 823 A horseman..(Skill'd in the manage of the bounding steed). 1864 Lond. Rev. 28 May, It is the menage, the education of the animal, that gives him half his value. 1876 Dowden Poems 67, I know the careless grace My Perseus wears in manage of the steed. |
| β 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 137 [He] rode out with him, and taught him the menage. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 313 What in the language of the ménage is called the line of the banquet. |
b. transf. and
fig.| α 1596 Drayton Legends iii. 507 And put Me forth upon my full Careere, On places slipperie, and my manage ill. 1608 Shakes. Per. iv. vi. 69 My Lord, shees not pac'ste yet, you must take some paines to worke her to your mannage. 1691 J. Wilson Belphegor i. iii, Do but bring him to the right manage at first; humour him in every thing,..and the rest follows. 1739 Warburton Comm. Pope's Ess. Man in Hist. Wks. Learned I. 92 Till the Horse and the Ox come to know why they undergo such different Manage and Fortunes in the Hand of Man. 1755 Young Centaur v. 227 Beasts of so gross a class as they [certain persons mentioned] choose to rank with, scarce deserve to be brought to the Manage. |
| β 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. xii. 22 The winged god him selfe Came riding on a Lion ravenous, Taught to obay the menage of that Elfe. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ii. 491 Rude thought runs wild in contemplation's field; Converse, the menage, breaks it to the bit Of due restraint. 1902 F. E. Schelling Eng. Chron. Play 240 The great horse of the Spenserian allegory had a pace beyond his [sc. Dekker's] menage. |
2. The action and paces to which a horse is trained in the riding-school; any of the separate movements or evolutions characteristic of a horse so trained;
spec. a short gallop at full speed.
Obs. exc. arch.| α 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1033/2 They were better practised to fetch in booties, than to make their manage or careire. 1589 Pasquills Counterc. A iij, It should seeme by the manages my beast made, that hee knewe his Maister had a speciall peece of seruice in hande. 1589 Pasquills Ret. C ij b, Howe souldier-like hee made an ende of his manage with a double rest. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 13 His horses..are taught their mannage. 1611 Cotgr., Air,..in horsemanship, a doing, or stirring manage, or manage raised aboue ground. à demy air, a certaine curuet, or manage, wherein the halfe of a horse is in the aire, the other on the ground. Ibid., Passade,..the manage for combat, or souldiors manage. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 26 Manage with rest, and manage without rest, manage with single turns, and manage with double turns. 1659 Dk. Newcastle Let. in Life (1886) 361 One of my horses of manage which will be the quietest..he or any man can have. 1770 Baretti Journ. fr. Lond. to Genoa (ed. 3) I. 175 By Bellém there is a noble structure.. where the King's horses are educated for the manage. 1805 Wordsw. Prelude x. 78 The horse is taught his manage. |
| β 1617 Bp. Hall Quo Vadis? §13 The horse is a noble creature... There is a double kinde of menage..—one for seruice, the other for pleasure. 1645 Evelyn Diary 3 Feb., One of his sons riding the menage with that address..as I had never seen any thing approach it. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 640/1 She trained her youth as the colt is trained to the menage. |
3. An enclosed space for the training of saddle-horses and for the practice of horsemanship; a riding-school.
| α 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 103/1 How many courses will the manage hold? 1684 Evelyn Diary 18 Dec., To see the young gallants do their exercise, Mr. Faubert having newly rail'd in a manage. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour Germany II. 432 The bishop has built a manage or riding house. 1811 Edw. Earl Clarendon's Relig. & Policy Advt., Henry Viscount Cornbury..by a codicil to his will, dated Aug. 10. 1751. left divers MSS. of his great grandfather Edward Earl of Clarendon..with a direction that the money to arise from the..publication..should be employed ‘as a beginning of a Fund for supporting a Manage or Academy for riding..in Oxford. |
| attrib. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. i. i. 192 They are waiting For you in the manage-school, to give your judgment On that new Norman mare. |
| β 1684 Scanderbeg Rediv. i. 7 He diligently applied himself to the best Exercises, as frequenting the Academies, Fencing, the Menage, &c. |
4. The skilful handling
of (a weapon, etc.).
| α c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 460 For the manage of his lance he generall praise did winne. 1633 Ford Broken H. iv. iii, The sonne of Venus hath bequeath'd his quiuer To Ithocles his manage. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2276/5 The Satisfaction of seeing what.. Address he had in the manage of his Horse and Arms. 1720 Mrs. Manley Power of Love vi. (1741) 332 To learn his Exercises..and the Manage of the Sword. |
| β 1670 Moral State Eng. 145 Each striving to go beyond the other..in the dextrous..menage of his Weapon. |
† 5. The action or manner of managing; management; conduct (of affairs); administration, direction, control.
Obs.| α 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. iv. v. (1612) 143 Mutianus..drewe the whole manage of affaires into his owne handes. 1592 Kyd Sol. & Pers. iii. i. 119 Wilt thou be our Lieutenant there, And further vs in manage of these wars? 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. iv. 25 Lorenso I commit into your hands, The husbandry and mannage of my house. 1612 Bacon Ess., Youth & Age (Arb.) 258 Young men in the conduct and mannage of Actions, embrace more then they can hold. 1617 Hales Serm. 17 The greatnesse of the businesse, the manage of which they vndertake. 1642 ― Gold. Rem., Tract on Schism (1673) 1 Howsoever, in the common manage, Heresie and Schisme are but ridiculous terms. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 667 That they might..consult of the further manage of the War. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly (1709) 104 St. Peter had the keys given to him, and that by our Saviour himself, who had never entrusted him, except he had known him capable of their manage and custody. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 48 The Manage of his Employment is not prescribed by the Rector. 1756 W. Toldervy Hist. 2 Orphans I. 95 His opinion was not more against her humour, than his manage of it was to her mind. |
| β 1665 Walton Life Hooker 39 [Q. Elizabeth] having experimented his wisdom..in the menage of her affairs..she made him archbishop of Canterbury. Ibid. 83 Revenge is so pleasing, that man is hardly persuaded to submit the menage of it to the..wisdom of his Creator. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode i. i, For the mennage of a Family, I know it better than any Lady in Sicily. a 1683 Oldham Poet. Wks. (1686) 103 Fools..Who..justly forfeit all that praise..Which we by our wise menage from a sin can raise. 1710 J. Palmer Prov. 7 Among all the errors..in our menage, nothing is more dangerous than entring into bonds. |
† b. Power of management.
Obs.| 1639 N. N. tr. Du Bosq's Compl. Woman i. 40 The spirits which are without manage, in their enterprises, are also without courage in their afflictions. |
† c. An administrative duty or office.
Obs.| 1651 Life Father Sarpi (1676) 21 [He] gave him employment in Congregations and other manages more frequently than was usual. |
† 6. Bearing, demeanour, conduct.
Obs.| 1593 G. Harvey New Let. B 4 b, His talke was sweet, his Order fine; his whole menage braue. |
† 7. Treatment of persons or of material.
Obs.| 1608 Chapman Byrons Trag. Plays 1873 II. 283 There is one sort of manadge for the Great, Another for inferiour. 1626 Bacon Sylva §327 Quick-silver will not endure the Mannage of the Fire. |
† 8. A design.
Obs.| 1681 Glanvill Sadducismus i. 30 The policy and menages of the Instruments of darkness. Ibid. 82 Our ignorance of the reasons and menages of Providence. |
▪ II. manage, v. (
ˈmænɪdʒ)
Forms: α. 6
manege,
mannadge, 6–7
mannage, 6–
manage. β. 6–8
menage.
[Recorded earlier than the cognate manage n., and prob. directly ad. It. maneggiare to handle, esp. to manage or train (horses) = Sp. manejar, F. manier:—vulgar L. type *manidiāre, f. L. man-us (It., Sp. mano, F. main) hand. Although the etymological form
manege appears in our earliest example, the ending was, as in the
n., already in the 16th c. assimilated to the common suffix
-age. The form
menage in early examples is taken from the
n.; but in the late 17th and early 18th c. it was chiefly used where the sense closely approaches that of the F.
ménager to use carefully, to husband, spare,
f. ménage household. This
Fr. vb. certainly influenced the sense-development of the
Eng. word: indeed, in the writings of Dryden and his contemporaries, there are frequent instances of
manage (as well as of
menage) which can only be regarded as conscious gallicisms.]
1. a. trans. To handle, train, or direct (a horse) in his paces; to put through the exercises of the manège. Now merged in the wider senses 2 and 7.
| α 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer i. (1577) D v b, It is the peculiar prayse of vs Italians..to manege wyth reason, especially rough horses. 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 226 Behold how..Lorde Frederike..rid on his horse..sometimes with curuettes..did so manage him, that it was a meruailous..spectacle to the beholders. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 6 Having a while gently mannaged him [the horse] without finding him any way disobedient. 1645 G. Daniel Poems Wks. II. 25 How shall we Spend the Day? Manage the lustie Steed? Or see the Eager Hounds pursue the pray? 1754 R. Berenger tr. Bourgelat's Hist. Horsem. (1771) I. 169 They [the horses] all having been carefully handled, dressed, or managed as we call it. |
| β 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 37 A goodly person, and could menage faire His stubborne steed with curbed canon bitt. 1683 T. Hoy Agathocles 8 An Hard-mouth'd Beast, for slacken'd Raines unfitt, And must be menag'd with the Spur and Bitt. |
† b. intr. Of a horse: To perform the exercises of the manège. Also in narrower sense, to run a ‘manage’ (see
manage n. 1).
Obs.| 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 348 A large and mighty-limbed Steed Can never manage half so readily As Spanish Jennet. 1607 Markham Caval. i. (1617) 16 Being able to passe a short carriere, to manage, beat a coruet and such like. 1614 ― Cheap Husb. i. ii. (1668) 25 You shall then teach him to manage which is the only posture for the use of the Sword on Horseback. 1614 Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue i. 41 The Horse Which standing still too-long..Forgets to manage. 1650 Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man become Guilty 271 He [man] taught the horse to manage, and forced the noblest of creatures to endure the bit and spur. 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 10 [A horse speaks.] I could both Manage, Stop and Turn. |
2. a. trans. To handle, wield, make use of (a weapon, tool, implement, etc.). Often in
phr. † to manage arms = to fight. Now only, to regulate one's use of (a weapon, instrument, etc.) with greater or less success, to make (it) serve one's purpose (well or ill).
| α c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxliv. i, Prais'd bee the Lord of might,..By whom my hands doe fight, My fingers manage armes. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. i, But if..He be so mad to manage Armes with me, Then stay thou with him. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 247 Hope is a louers staffe, walke hence with that And manage it, against despairing thoughts. 1592 ― Rom. & Jul. i. i. 76 Put vp thy Sword, Or manage it to part these men with me. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1191 These soldiors..mannaging their armes, whilest others hanged theirs by the wals. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Advts. fr. Parnass. ii. xiv. (1674) 153 [They] consume themselves in continual managing their Pen. 1659 Pearson Creed (1839) 450 The scriptures to prove these attributes..are so many, that to manage them against the exceptions of the adversaries, would take up too much room. 1678 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 73 This way of handling may seem a preposterous posture to mannage an Iron Tool in. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 104 He trusts most to his Head,..and does manage it with as much Skill and Force, as any Bull or Ram. 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 1316 But Lancelot on him urged..How best to manage horse, lance, sword and shield. 1894 Parry Stud. Gt. Musicians, Schubert 224 The German..however much he manages his language can never make it as purely beautiful in sound as an Italian. |
| β 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 27 A comely personage, That in his hand a white rod menaged. 1670 Covel Diary (Hakluyt Soc.) 218, I..understand that these [stone balls]..have been in like manner menaged,..as particularly one of them over Adrianople gate..was menaged just before Mahomet 3d who..rewarded the man well. |
† b. intr. To operate, manœuvre
with.
Obs.| 1591 Greene Art Conny Catch. ii. Pref. 2 Though I cannot as he mannadge with my courtlax. |
c. trans. To ‘handle’, work (a ship or boat).
| 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 525 Our men..died continually, and..we were scantly able to manage [1589 manure] our shippe. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. ii. 81 The success of the champion depended upon the skilfulness of those who managed the boat. 1823 T. C. Gratton High-ways & By-ways (ed. 2) I. 9 One solitary barge, managed by a single boatman, was working its way against the current. |
3. a. To conduct or carry on (a war, a business, an undertaking, an operation). Now with more precise notion: To carry on successfully or the contrary; to control the course of (affairs) by one's own action.
| α 1579 Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 309 With great danger we managed warre many yeares against the most cruell Tyrant of the Turkes. 1600 Fairfax Tasso i. li. 29 But let vs menage war with blowes, like knights. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. ii. 17 Thou hauing made me Businesses, (which none (without thee) can sufficiently manage). 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. iv. 19 As unconceivable..as that a blind man should manage a game at Chess, or Marshal an Army. a 1667 Cowley Mrs. K. Philips iii, The Trade of Glory manag'd by the Pen..Does bring in but small Profit to us Men. 1678 Wanley Wond. Lit. World v. ii §50. 471/1 Theodora..after the death of Constantine, managed for two years the affairs of the Empire. Ibid. §84. 472/2 He himself was a Prince unactive, managing the Wars by his principal Bassa's. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton vi. (1840) 97 Our surgeon was very skilful in managing their cure. 1798 Jane Austen Lett. (1884) I. 173 Mary does not manage matters in such a way as to make me want to lay in myself. 1818 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 60 So you see, my dear Olivia, they manage these things better in France. 1841 Macaulay Ess., Warren Hastings (The Trial), When Parliament met in the following winter, the Commons proceeded to elect a committee for managing the impeachment. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 By a committee of nine..all the affairs of the little world were managed. |
| β 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxvii. §1. 227 Who should giue them their commission but he whose most inward affaires they menage? Ibid. lxxxi. §4. 259 They are able to dispose and menage their owne affaires. |
† b. To fulfil the duties of (an office).
Obs.| a 1627 Hayward Four Y. Eliz. (Camden) 54 About 140 passed under the sword and amonge them 12 of name, either for nobilitie of birth and state, or for honorable places they mannaged in the armie. |
c. To work out (in literary treatment).
| 1697 Dryden Ded. æneis Ess. (Ker) II. 162, I was loath to be informed..how a tragedy should be contrived and managed, in better verse..than I could teach others. 1714 Pope Rape Lock Ep. Ded., The character of Belinda, as it is now manag'd, resembles you in nothing but in Beauty. 1776 Mickle Diss. Lusiad (1778) p. ccxviii, If the man of taste..will be pleased to mark how the genius of a Virgil has managed a war after a Homer. |
d. absol. To conduct affairs. Also,
† to plot, scheme, intrigue.
| 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 229 He that enterteineth many friends, must of necessitie be conformable to them all: namely..with ambitious citizens, to sue and manage for offices [etc.]. 1693 Dryden Juvenal's Sat. x. 537 Intrust thy Fortune to the Pow'rs above. Leave them to manage for thee, and to grant What their unerring Wisdom sees thee want. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest iv, If I had not managed very cleverly, they would have found me out. 1860–1 F. Nightingale Nursing 30 It is as impossible in a book to teach a person in charge of sick how to manage, as it is to teach her how to nurse. 1864 Tennyson Grandmother ii, Her father..Hadn't a head to manage, and drank himself into his grave. |
e. intr. (quasi-pass.) To admit of being managed.
| 1625 B. Jonson Staple of News iv. i, Is't a Cleare businesse? will it mannage well? My name must not be vs'd else. |
4. trans. To control and direct the affairs of (a household, institution, state, etc.); to take charge of, attend to (cattle, etc.).
| α 1609 Sir T. Smith's Commw. Eng. i. xxiv. 34 To speake of the Commonwealth, or policy of England it is gouerned, administered, and mannaged [edd. 1583, 1584, 1589, 1594 manured] by three sorts of persons. 1709 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 75 Trustees for manageing and takeing care of the said charity schoole. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 15 If the household were rightly managed. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. viii, There are no estates to manage. 1881 Jowett Thucyd. I. 190, I have remarked again and again that a democracy cannot manage an empire. |
| β 1670 Moral State Eng. 90 You must bid fair for her [an Heiress] to those who menage her. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 28 What Intervals of time they have..in menaging of their Flocks. |
5. To administer, regulate the use or expenditure of (finances, provisions, etc.).
| 1649 Bp. Reynolds Hosea i. 51 Mannage every one of his gifts to the closing of those miserable breaches which threaten an inundation of calamitie upon us all. 1683 Brit. Spec. 78 Besides these the Comes sacrarum largitionum, who managed the Emperors Finances. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. iv. 155 The provisions..had been managed without economy. |
| absol. 1842 S. Atkinson Chancery Pract. 270 In every order directing the appointment of a receiver of landed estate, there shall be inserted a direction that such receiver shall manage as well as let and set. |
6. a. To deal with or treat carefully; to use sparingly or with judgement; to husband (one's health, life, money, etc.). [
Cf. F.
ménager.] ?
Obs.| 1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. (1650) 72 Now the same God that hath ordained Soveraigne powers to judge of, and protect the life of others, hath given weighty charge to every man to tender and manage his owne. 1673 Dryden Marr. à la Mode Prol. 24 [She] manages her last half-crown with care, And trudges to the Mall on foot for air. 1697 ― æneid xi. 1090 He spurs amidst the foes, Not managing the life he meant to lose. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1703) 30 A man, as he manages himself, may die old at thirty, and a child at fourscore. 1701 Swift Contests Nobles & Comm. Wks. 1775 II. i. 43 Yet we may manage a sickly constitution; and preserve a strong one. 1726 ― Gulliver iv. vii, I began to..think the Honour of my own Kind not worth managing. 1733–4 Berkeley Let. to Prior 17 Mar. Wks. 1871 IV. 218, I am obliged to manage my health, and I have many things to do. |
† b. To treat (persons) with indulgence or consideration. Also
absol., to alter one's conduct from fear of giving offence. [
= F.
ménager.]
Obs.| 1714 Swift Let. to Bolingbroke 7 Aug., I do not find there is any intention of managing you in the least. 1727 Oldmixon Clarendon & Whitlock Comp. 281 If the Parliament of England had manag'd them with the least Complacencey. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace i. Wks. VIII. 147 He temporized; he managed. |
7. To control, cause to submit to one's rule (persons, animals, etc.).
| 1594 Marlowe & Nashe Dido i. i, And full three Sommers likewise shall he waste In mannaging those fierce barbarian mindes 1657 Jer. Taylor Friendship (ed. 2) 194 Our absolution does but..comfort and instruct your Conscience, direct and manage it. 1694 Addison St. Cecilia's Day, Musick..With unexpected eloquence can move And manage all the Man with secret art. 1834 Macaulay Ess., Pitt (1887) 317 What probability was there that a mere drudge would be able to manage a large and stormy assembly? 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race Wks. (Bohn) II. 32 His attachment to the horse arises from the courage and address required to manage it. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. ix. (1878) 166 My mother..was the only one that ever could manage him. |
8. a. To bring (a person) to consent to one's wishes by artifice, flattery, or judicious suggestion of motives.
| α 1706–7 Farquhar Beaux Strat. ii. i, London, dear London is the Place for managing and breaking a Husband. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 444 ¶4 The Art of managing Mankind, is only to make them stare a little. 1777 A. Hamilton Wks. (1886) VII. 483 He managed them with a good deal of address, and sent them away perfectly satisfied. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey iii. i, Managing mankind, by studying their tempers and humouring their weaknesses. 1840 Lytton Money v. iii, I have managed even Sharp. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 223 The chief agent who was employed by the government to manage the Presbyterians was Vincent Alsop. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 24 Managing one's husband is some pleasure. |
| β 1673 Walker Educ. (1683) 92 He embraceth the lies and flatteries of such as thereby gain and menage him. |
† b. Const.
to with inf.,
towards.
Obs.| α a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 580 He..was so frighted, that he was easily managed to pretend to discover any thing that was suggested to him. |
| β 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus, Antiq. vii. x. (1733) 187 With certain Hints how they were to menage the Heads of the Tribe of Judah towards his Restauration. |
9. a. To operate upon, manipulate for a purpose (
† const. to with inf.); to till (land).
| 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. i. §11. 6 As much as one plow can handsomely manage. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxiv. 303 Who then thy master, say? and whose the land So dress'd and manag'd by thy skilful hand? 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. (ed. 2) 49 It may be increased by managing the soil in such a manner, as to enable it to attract this food in greater plenty. |
b. To adulterate, sophisticate; to ‘doctor’.
| 1820 Blackw. Mag. VI. 549 The art of managing or, according to the familiar phrase, doctoring wines. |
† 10. a. To convey by mechanism or contrivance.
b. Naut. to manage out: to equip and send out (a boat).
Cf. to man out.
Obs.| a. 1650 Fuller Pisgah 423 How can we conceive that these solid stones..were managed hither..over a mountainous Country? |
| b. 1638 J. Underhill News fr. Amer. in 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. (1837) VI. 18 He had managed out a pinnace. |
11. a. To bring to pass by contrivance; hence, to succeed in accomplishing. Also, with
inf. as
obj. (or ellipsis of this); often ironically, to be so unskilful or unlucky as
to do something (
cf. contrive v. 6).
| 1722 De Foe Relig. Courtsh. i. i. (1840) 29 What, says he, child, is to be done in the affair while I am gone?..I know not how it will be managed, but I believe she will see him no more. 1838 Macready Diary 3 Aug. Remin. (1875) II. 117, I find I managed to lose..{pstlg}2,500. 1854 Dickens Hard T. ii. vii, She is sharp enough; she could manage to coax it out of him, if she chose. 1879 M{supc}Carthy Own Times II. xxix. 400 His plays are among the very few modern productions which manage to keep the stage. 1883 Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii. xiv. (1886) 112 My..obvious duty was to draw as close as I could manage. 1895 Bookman Oct. 33/1 After gaining any diplomatic success he managed to neutralise the effects of it by some act of fatuous folly. |
b. absol. To succeed (under disadvantages) in accomplishing one's task; to ‘make shift’, contrive to get on
with what is hardly adequate.
colloq.| 1854 M. L. Charlesworth Ministering Children iv. 47 Rose was..wondering how William would manage about getting some logs for Mercy's fire. 1873 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy Did xi. 195 I've been thinking how we are to manage about the housekeeping. 1895 ‘G. Mortimer’ Like Stars that Fall viii. 108 ‘How will you manage about your hair?’ ‘I shall cut it short, I think.’ 1899 Speaker 29 July 107/1 ‘The press of work fairly bewilders me’, he writes..but he managed almost without a hitch. Mod. I think I might manage with another yard of material. |
12. With
can or
be able: to cope with the difficulties of; to succeed in using, dealing with, etc.; to ‘tackle’.
| [1655: see 9.] 1825 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Superann. Man, It seemed to me that I had more time on my hands than I could ever manage. 1903 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 805/1 [I can] occasionally manage places which are too much for the average snipe-shooter. |
Add:
[4.] b. To organize the activities of (a person or group of people),
esp. in the fields of sport and entertainment; to act as manager (*
manager n. 3 b (b)) to.
| 1928 Weekly Dispatch 20 May 14/4 Nowadays the potential star has to be managed and publicised. 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 11/5 Francois Descamps, who will in future manage him, told me later..that Jeans looks..like a potential champion. 1975 Economist 3 May 28/3 Fulham are managed by an elderly asthmatic who..sold his two best players for {pstlg}250,000 at the end of 1973. 1989 Q Dec. 12/3 McVey has managed Cherry throughout the year. |
▪ III. manage variant of
menage Obs.