womanhandle

See also: woman-handle

English

Etymology

Blend of woman +‎ manhandle

Verb

womanhandle (third-person singular simple present womanhandles, present participle womanhandling, simple past and past participle womanhandled)

1. (transitive, rare, humorous) To handle someone or something gently, or with very little effort (sometimes as opposed to manhandle).
   • 1915, Jack London, The Little Lady of the Big House‎^[1]:

     It seems humanly reasonable that the three of us can woman-handle a mere man of your elderly and insulting avoirdupois.

   • 2001, Keith Spratley, TimeJack‎^[2]:

     Awkwardly, Jenny managed to open the front door and womanhandle Brian into the hallway.

   • 2007, Lee Patterson, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: A Casebook‎^[3]:

     What she finds is that her experience has provided her with extensive resources for continuing to womanhandle the authorities […]

   • 2011, Valerie Kirkwood, Accidentally Yours‎^[4]:

     The way I let Henry and Luke womanhandle you?

2. (transitive, rare, humorous) To manhandle or treat roughly (when done by a woman).
   • 2006, Hugh Cook, The Wordsmiths and the Warguild, page 121:

     They womanhandled him down the hallway without any trouble at all. His feet, bumping him over the stone floor, were getting hurt. He had just decided it would be better to cooperate when, without any warning, they let him go. He fell face first […]

Alternative forms

• woman-handle

Antonyms

• manhandle