Dictionary

womanhandle en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈwʊm.ənˌhæn.dəl/ (Received-Pronunciation, US)

Etymology

Blend of woman + manhandle.

Meanings

1. (humorous, rare, transitive) To handle someone or something gently, or with very little effort (sometimes as opposed to manhandle).
   • It seems humanly reasonable that the three of us can woman-handle a mere man of your elderly and insulting avoirdupois. 1915, Jack London, The Little Lady of the Big House:
   • Awkwardly, Jenny managed to open the front door and womanhandle Brian into the hallway. 2001, Keith Spratley, TimeJack:
   • What she finds is that her experience has provided her with extensive resources for continuing to womanhandle the authorities […] 2007, Lee Patterson, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: A Casebook:
   • The way I let Henry and Luke womanhandle you? 2011, Valerie Kirkwood, Accidentally Yours:
2. (humorous, rare, transitive) To manhandle or treat roughly (when done by a woman).
   • They womanhandled him down the hallway without any trouble at all. His feet, bumping him over the stone floor, were getting hurt. He had just decided it would be better to cooperate when, without any warning, they let him go. He fell face first […] 2006, Hugh Cook, The Wordsmiths and the Warguild, page 121:

Forms

Antonyms

manhandle