manage

SayMAN-ij/ˈmænədʒ/UK/ˈmænɪdʒ/

12 meanings of manage

1
lead peopleverbtransitive
To direct or be in charge of a person, group, or organization.
He has managed the regional office since the spring.
Few people could manage such a large and divided department.
Similarrun, direct, lead, head, supervise
2
succeed somehowverbintransitive
To succeed in doing something difficult, or to cope, especially with limited money, time, or help.
With three jobs between them, the family somehow managed.
Refugees often manage with almost nothing for months at a time.
3
verbtransitive
To handle or control a situation, task, or job.
The supervisor managed the crisis calmly and kept everyone informed.
Experienced pilots are trained to manage a sudden engine failure calmly, one step at a time.
Similarhandle, control
4
do something sillyverbironicintransitive
To do something foolish or undesirable despite having an opportunity or an obligation to avoid it.
Of all the days to be late, he managed to oversleep on interview morning.
Leave them alone for an hour and they always manage to break something.
UsageOften with somehow: she somehow managed to forget. The tone runs from teasing to exasperated.

Less common meanings

5
say with effortverbtransitive
To succeed in saying something while holding back embarrassment, laughter, or other emotion.
Red-faced, she managed an apology and hurried out of the room.
He could only manage a few broken words at the funeral.
UsageThe object is what is said: managed an apology, often with could only or barely. After a quote it can replace said.
Similarmuster
6
find timeverbtransitive
To be available for, or find room in one's schedule for, an arrangement at a particular time, as when settling a date or meeting.
Could you manage a quick call at four, or is that too late for you?
The client said she could manage the 15th but nothing earlier in the month.
UsageUsually with can or could, often in questions: can you manage Friday? I can't manage Friday turns a date down politely.
Similarmake, do
7
use with skillverbtransitive
To handle or wield a tool or weapon with skill.
The veteran managed his sword as though it weighed nothing.
A skilled rider can manage the reins and the whip at once.
Similarwield, handle
Note
Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) describes an unruly boy who "euer warlike weapons menaged", in the older spelling. Its object is the thing held, such as a sword or the reins, rather than the people or business of the managerial sense.
8
verbobsoletetransitive
To treat something with care; to use or conserve it prudently.
Note
An obsolete sense of thrift: to husband something, using it carefully so that it lasts. In the prologue to Dryden's Marriage à la Mode (1673), a woman "manages her last half-crown with care" and then trudges to the Mall on foot. A modern reader may hear the "be in charge of" meaning in such lines, but the older sense is about sparing a resource, not directing it.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Manage has an obsolete sense meaning to treat carefully or husband a resource. en.wiktionary.org
John Dryden wrote Marriage à la Mode. en.wikisource.org
The play was first published in 1673. nationalgallery.org.uk
The prologue describes a woman carefully conserving her last half-crown and walking to the Mall; the quotation is accurate with modernized spelling. en.wikisource.org
The cited use concerns conserving a resource. en.wiktionary.org
9
verbobsoletetransitive
To bring something about; to contrive or arrange it.
in a town of war, Yet wild, the people's hearts brimful of fear, To manage private and domestic quarrel, In night, and on the court and guard of safety!
c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”
Note
In older texts the verb can mean to bring something about, which turns some familiar lines upside down. In Shakespeare's Othello, to "manage private and domestic quarrel" in a fearful garrison town at night means to stir up and pursue a quarrel, not to keep one under control. Reading it as the "handle a situation" meaning reverses the sense, so this obsolete use is worth recognizing.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Manage has an obsolete sense meaning to bring about or contrive. en.wiktionary.org
Othello is by William Shakespeare. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted words occur in Othello, spoken by Othello about a quarrel at night in a frightened military town. shakespeare.mit.edu
The quotation exemplifies bringing about a quarrel rather than restraining it. en.wiktionary.org
10
nounarchaicuncountable
The control or direction of something, or the handling of its affairs.
the unlucky manage of this fatal brawl
c. 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”
Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold.
1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Youth and Age”
Note
A noun that once did the work management does now. Bacon's essay Of Youth and Age speaks of "the conduct and manage of actions", and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet speaks of "the unlucky manage of this fatal brawl". Spenser's spelling menage shows how close it stayed to French. It is archaic today: write management, and expect manage as a noun only in older writing.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
The noun manage formerly meant management. en.wikisource.org
Of Youth and Age first appeared in 1612; it was slightly enlarged in 1625. gutenberg.org
Bacon used the words “the conduct and manage of actions”. en.wikisource.org
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet contains the quoted wording, spoken by Benvolio. en.wikisource.org
Spenser used the spelling menage, and manage derives from French. en.wiktionary.org
11
verb
To train a horse in the manège, exercising it in graceful, artful movement.
12
nounarchaic
The art of horsemanship, or the enclosed arena where horses are schooled; a manège.
You must draw [the horse] in his career with his manage, and turn, doing the corvetto, leaping &c..
1622, Henry Peacham (Jr.), The Compleat Gentleman

Practice

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Origin

Its deepest root is Latin "manus" ("the hand"). Old Italian "maneggiare" (to handle, manage, treat) grew from it, and Old French "manege" (horsemanship, the training or handling of a horse) probably came from the Italian verb; English took the French word as Early Modern English "manage"/"menage."