# maneuver

Pronunciation: US say "muh-NOO-ver" /məˈnuvɚ/; UK say "muh-NOO-vuh" /məˈnuːvə/

## Verb

1. To guide something, or make one's way, carefully into a particular position, often with effort or difficulty.
   - Simple: To move something or yourself slowly and carefully into a place, often when it is hard to do.
   - _It took three of us to maneuver the piano through the narrow doorway._
   - _She maneuvered through the crowded room toward the exit._
7. To guide, steer, or manage someone or something with a clear purpose.
   - Simple: To carefully guide or control something or someone toward a goal.
   - _The senator maneuvered the bill through committee without a single amendment._
   - _Good managers know how to maneuver a team through a crisis._
8. To scheme or plot, working behind the scenes to manipulate events or people.
   - Simple: To make secret plans and use tricks to get what you want.
   - _For months the rival factions maneuvered behind the scenes for control of the party._
   - _Executives who maneuver for promotion often make enemies along the way._

## Noun

2. A controlled movement made while steering a vehicle, especially a skillful one.
   - Simple: A careful move made while driving or steering a vehicle, often one that takes skill.
   - _The pilot performed a sharp evasive maneuver to avoid the flock of birds._
   - _Backing a trailer into a tight space is one of the hardest maneuvers for new drivers._
3. Any strategic or cunning action; a clever scheme or trick.
   - Simple: A clever plan or trick to get what you want.
   - _Calling an early vote was a political maneuver to catch the opposition unprepared._
   - _Her lawyers saw through the company's legal maneuvers and pressed on with the case._
4. A planned, strategic movement of troops, vehicles, and the like; also, a large field exercise in which military units train.
   - Simple: A planned move of soldiers and vehicles, or a big practice exercise for an army.
   - _A sudden flanking maneuver by the cavalry broke the enemy line._
   - _Two armored divisions are on maneuvers in the desert this month._
5. A movement of the body or of a tool or instrument, especially one done with skill or dexterity.
   - Simple: A movement of the body or of a tool, especially a skillful one.
   - _The gymnast finished her routine with a difficult twisting maneuver on the beam._
   - _With a quick maneuver of the spatula, the chef flipped the omelet without breaking it._
6. A specific medical or surgical movement, often named after its originator, performed with a doctor's hands or with surgical instruments.
   - Simple: A special movement a doctor does with the hands or tools, often named after a person.
   - _The obstetrician used a series of maneuvers to free the baby's shoulder during delivery._
   - _After a quick Epley maneuver in the clinic, her dizziness disappeared._

## Origin

From Middle French manœuvre (“manipulation, maneuver”) and manouvrer (“to maneuver”), from Old French manovre (“handwork, manual labor”), from Medieval Latin manopera, manuopera (“work done by hand”), from manu (“by hand”) + operari (“to work”). First recorded around 800 AD meaning “chore, manual task”, probably as a calque of Frankish *handuwerk (“hand-work”); the verb is a doublet of the verb manure.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/maneuver (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).