manage

1 of 2

verb

man·​age ˈma-nij How to pronounce manage (audio)
managed; managing

transitive verb

1
: to handle or direct with a degree of skill: such as
a
: to exercise executive, administrative, and supervisory direction of
manage a business
manage a bond issue
manages a baseball team
b
: to treat with care : husband
managed his resources carefully
c
: to make and keep compliant
can't manage their child
2
: to direct the professional career of
an agency that manages entertainers
3
: to succeed in accomplishing : contrive
managed to escape from prison
4
: to work upon or try to alter for a purpose
manage the press
manage stress

intransitive verb

1
: to achieve one's purpose
He managed only by careful planning.
2
a
: to direct or carry on business or affairs
also : to direct a baseball team
b
: to admit of being carried on

manage

2 of 2

noun

1
a
: the schooling or handling of a horse
b
: a riding school
c
archaic : the action and paces of a trained riding horse
2
obsolete : management
Choose the Right Synonym for manage

conduct, manage, control, direct mean to use one's powers to lead, guide, or dominate.

conduct implies taking responsibility for the acts and achievements of a group.

conducted negotiations

manage implies direct handling and manipulating or maneuvering toward a desired result.

manages a meat market

control implies a regulating or restraining in order to keep within bounds or on a course.

controlling his appetite

direct implies constant guiding and regulating so as to achieve smooth operation.

directs the store's day-to-day business

Examples of manage in a Sentence

Verb The business is managed by the owner's daughter. The company is badly managed. When she managed the department, we never missed a deadline. He manages his own finances. an agency that manages entertainers He is skillful in managing horses. There's enough food if we manage it well. We need to do a better job of managing our natural resources.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
With over 300 staff across offices in Hong Kong, mainland China, Thailand and South Korea, the company manages every aspect of filmmaking from financing to distribution. Faye Bradley, Variety, 16 Mar. 2024 Special nod to drummer Scott Asheton who somehow manages to make these rock song swing. Liza Lentini, SPIN, 15 Mar. 2024 And Jones helps manage a nonprofit organization called Dream Corps, which works to address climate change, mass incarceration and economic inequality. Kendra Nichols, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 Johnson said that managing his pain over his father’s abandonment taught him how to project equanimity. David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024 Mnuchin may be the founder and managing partner of Liberty Strategic Capital, but Saudi Arabia is reportedly covering a big chunk of his firm’s tab. Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024 What is your advice for a city—anywhere in the world—that might be looking to better manage its water in a warming climate and make the landscape better for human use? Matt Simon, WIRED, 15 Mar. 2024 The high borrowing costs — and how households manage them — pose some risk to the broader economy. Claire Ballentine, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024 In an effort to work around the consent decree, Mr. Adams had already adopted a series of rules to manage the strain that migrants have placed on the shelter system. Luis Ferré-Sadurní, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
Noun
This simple main manages to be unfussy and indulgent, simple and extraordinary. Anna Luisa Rodriguez, Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2023 But furry mammals like beavers and otters that spend most of their lives wet manage to avoid getting their fur slimy. Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2024 For whatever reason, there’s this perception that somehow the rich manage to reduce or eliminate taxes through some secret strategy that isn’t available to everyone else. Tracy Lownsberry, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 But sometimes the government officials charged with speaking to the press manage to enhance our public discourse with cogent communication. James Freeman, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023 More than 140 countries have signed up as participants in the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s sprawling infrastructure development program, and China now owns, manages, or has invested in more than 100 ports in some 60 countries. Robert M. Gates, Foreign Affairs, 29 Sep. 2023 This not-trying-too-hard new-build manages to feel both timely and timeless. Rachel Barrett, Country Living, 5 Sep. 2023 Tatum and Brown don’t load manage and Tatum spoke to summer campers last month about the importance of playing in every game. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Aug. 2023 The slim fit manages to make these cargo pants look tapered and elevated as well. Maverick Li, Men's Health, 28 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'manage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Italian maneggiare, from mano hand, from Latin manus

Noun

Italian maneggio management, training of a horse, from maneggiare

First Known Use

Verb

1561, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

circa 1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1c

Time Traveler
The first known use of manage was in 1561

Dictionary Entries Near manage

Cite this Entry

“Manage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manage. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

manage

verb
man·​age
ˈman-ij
managed; managing
1
: to look after and make decisions about : direct
manage a factory
2
: to make and keep under one's control : handle
manages her skis well
skill in managing horses
3
: to treat with care : husband
there's enough food if it's managed well
4
: to succeed in one's purpose : get along
manages despite a heavy schedule
always manages to win somehow
5
: to work upon or try to alter for a purpose
manage stress
6
: to direct the professional career of
an agency managing performers
manageability
ˌman-ij-ə-ˈbil-ət-ē
noun
manageable
ˈman-ij-ə-bəl
adjective
Etymology

Verb

from Italian maneggiare "to handle, direct, manage," from mano "hand," from Latin manus "hand" — related to maneuver, manual, manufacture see Word History at maneuver

Medical Definition

manage

transitive verb
man·​age ˈman-ij How to pronounce manage (audio)
managed; managing
: to conduct the management of
poorly managed diabetes

More from Merriam-Webster on manage

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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