Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To deal with clumsily or inefficiently; mismanage.
  • transitive verb To treat roughly; maltreat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To maltreat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To handle ill or wrongly; to maltreat.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To handle badly, causing physical injury.
  • verb To handle incorrectly, to make a mistake in handling a thing or situation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb manage badly or incompetently
  • verb make a mess of, destroy or ruin

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From mis- +‎ handle.

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Examples

  • Who doesn't "mishandle" -- i.e., misplace, loose, forget where they left -- the tuition check, the gas bill, keys, glasses, the grocery list, and yes, even take-home work -- at least once in awhile?

    legitgov 2008

  • The Department of Transportation issues statistics each month on the rate at which airlines "mishandle" luggage -- that is, don't deliver it to you with your flight.

    Why Your Bags 2008

  • The Mets did not "mishandle" Church's injury - concussion management is generally trial and error

    MetsBlog.com 2009

  • But the IG report shows that Gonzales did more than "mishandle" his notes, which included operational details on what he himself, somewhat ironically, called -- after it had leaked -- "one of the most highly protected [programs] in the United States ... a very, very secretive, protected program," and correspondence between congressional Intelligence Committee leaders and CIA chief Gen. Michael Hayden.

    TPMMuckraker 2008

  • But the IG report shows that Gonzales did more than "mishandle" his notes, which included operational details on what he himself, somewhat ironically, called -- after it had leaked --

    legitgov 2008

  • Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy as well as all of the alternative principal voice actors will be behind to mishandle the hothouse classics.

    Archive 2009-11-01 admin 2009

  • With the pensions negotiations edging towards farce, ministers fear that if they continue to mishandle the issues, there is a greater risk that they will lose the PR battle and the public could end up supporting the teachers and civil servants if and when they go on strike.

    The Age of Strife: pay packets and pensions divide coalition Britain 2011

  • He did mishandle his book of checks when he was trying to put it on the counter.

    It Must Be Noon Somewhere : Bev Vincent 2010

  • Instead there is advice on how bloggers should interact with their readers and a caution about how celebrities mishandle their public wrongdoings.

    Dale Carnegie's self-help bible gets a new life for the digital age 2011

  • Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy as well as all of the alternative principal voice actors will be behind to mishandle the hothouse classics.

    A Pizza Mind: The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010 The films most likely ... admin 2009

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