manhandle means To move something heavy by force of men, without aid of levers, pulleys, machine, or tackles. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
Why this word is great
MANHANDLE — [Verb] To handle or move something or someone roughly or with force, often resulting in damage or injury. From Middle English manne-handlen, man handelen, equivalent to man ("male person, human") + handle ("to touch or manage with the hands"). Unlike mishandle (which implies careless incompetence) or the arch coinage womanhandle (a wink at the term’s gendered core), to manhandle is to assert control through blunt, physical dominance. It is the splintering thud of an heirloom desk forced up a staircase, the impersonal shove of a bouncer on a crowded sidewalk, or the desperate wrenching of a rusted bolt with a length of pipe—a testament to a world where force was the crude prerogative of the human hand, and the human hand was male.
verb
- To move something heavy by force of men, without aid of levers, pulleys, machine, or tackles.“I see him—Tom—on horse-block standing,
Trumpet at mouth, thrown up all amain,
An elephant's bugle, vociferous demanding
Of topmen aloft in the hurricane of rain,
"Letting that sail there your faces flog?
Manhandle it, men, and you'll get the good grog!"”
- To assault or beat up a person.“The polls were guarded by bullies who did not hesitate at command to manhandle any decent citizen indicated by the local leaders.”
- To mishandle; to handle roughly; to mangle.“She yells at people who manhandle the tomatoes or break the beans.”
- To control (a machine, vehicle, situation, etc.) by means of physical strength.“Riders who succeed on this terrain are able to manhandle their bike as it rattles over the bumps.”