manipulate
verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt 
manipulated; manipulating
1
: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
manipulate a pencil
manipulate a machine
2
3
: to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose : doctor
suspected that the police reports were manipulated—
Evelyn G. Cruickshanks
Evelyn G. Cruickshanks
Examples of manipulate in a Sentence
The baby is learning to manipulate blocks.
The mechanical arms are manipulated by a computer.
The doctor manipulated my back.
The program was designed to organize and manipulate large amounts of data.
He's always been good at manipulating numbers in his head.
As part of the experiment, students manipulated light and temperature to see how it affected the plants.
She knows how to manipulate her parents to get what she wants.
He felt that he had been manipulated by the people he trusted most.
The editorial was a blatant attempt to manipulate public opinion.
He's accused of trying to manipulate the price of the stock.
Recent Examples on the Web
For another, the sheer number of disparate state and local jurisdictions that would need to be manipulated makes any attempt to steal an election much harder.
—Jenna Bednar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2024
Would a small child be able to manipulate controls, turn the machine on, skip tracks, or otherwise program the device without an adult’s help?
—Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 2 Nov. 2024
Chief executive officer Kentaro Okuda and other top managers agreed on Thursday to take a pay cut after the firm admitted an employee manipulated the bond market, prompting several firms to stop trading with the brokerage.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Asia, 1 Nov. 2024
The council had added that foreign actors would not be able to manipulate the election to impact the outcome without detection.
—Juliann Ventura, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for manipulate 
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Jenna Bednar, Foreign Affairs, 5 Nov. 2024
Would a small child be able to manipulate controls, turn the machine on, skip tracks, or otherwise program the device without an adult’s help?
—Cheryl Fenton, Parents, 2 Nov. 2024
Chief executive officer Kentaro Okuda and other top managers agreed on Thursday to take a pay cut after the firm admitted an employee manipulated the bond market, prompting several firms to stop trading with the brokerage.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune Asia, 1 Nov. 2024
The council had added that foreign actors would not be able to manipulate the election to impact the outcome without detection.
—Juliann Ventura, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for manipulate
Dictionary Entries Near manipulate
Cite this Entry
“Manipulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manipulate. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
manipulate
verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
1
: to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially with skill
manipulate the trackball
2
: to manage or use skillfully
manipulate masses of statistics
3
: to manage especially with intent to deceive
manipulate accounts
manipulate public opinion
Medical Definition
manipulate
transitive verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈnip-yə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
1
: to treat or operate with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
manipulate the fragments of a broken bone into correct position
2
a
: to manage or utilize skillfully
b
: to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage
manipulativeness
noun
Legal Definition
manipulate
transitive verb
ma·nip·u·late
mə-ˈni-pyə-ˌlāt
manipulated; manipulating
: to change by artful or unfair means so as to serve one's purpose
specifically
: to affect (the price of securities) artificially in order to deceive or mislead investors
manipulatively
adverb
manipulativeness
noun
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