From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmanipulatema‧nip‧u‧late /məˈnɪpjəleɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] 1 USE A PERSONto make someone think and behave exactly as you want them to, by skilfully deceiving or influencing them He was one of those men who manipulated people. You have the constant feeling you are being manipulated.manipulate somebody into (doing) something The thought that any parent would manipulate their child into seeking fame just appalled me.2 USE somethingto work skilfully with information, systems etc to achieve the result that you want software designed to store and manipulate data You can integrate text with graphics and manipulate graphic images.3 medicalMH to move and press bones or muscles to remove pain in them4 MOVE something OR somebodyto use skill in moving or handling something The workmen manipulated some knobs and levers. —manipulation /məˌnɪpjəˈleɪʃən/ noun [uncountable] allegations of political manipulation manipulation of photographic images→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
manipulate• Sir C: I believe you speak of the practice whereby the political inclination of a parish is physically manipulated.• He's so crazy about her he doesn't realize he's being manipulated.• How this rock widow and ageing wild child cons, manipulates and exploits the sharks makes for a delightful tale of revenge.• The images can be manipulated and stored on disk.• Players manipulate characters on the screen using a joystick.• Local people were unwilling to believe that police had manipulated evidence.• He managed to manipulate her into lending his company £500,000.• He's such a nice man, I could imagine him getting manipulated into a situation like that.• Developing a budget involves manipulating numbers and requires strong analytical skills.• Babies investigate their world by manipulating objects.• The association defines a robot as a programmable device used either to manipulate or transport objects in a manufacturing process.• Millions of years of evolution have equipped us to delicately manipulate our environment through our sense of touch.• Printed exhortations can convey the same dehumanizing views; but print is limited in its manipulating power by the factor of delay.• He accused the environmentalists of trying to manipulate public opinion in their favour.• This we might call the experimental activity, with the teacher acting as observer manipulating the techniques concerned.• Students were outraged that someone could use their newspaper to manipulate them.• The report does not allege that evidence had been manipulated to benefit prosecutors, the official said.manipulate somebody into (doing) something• Speak to you vet who may be able to manipulate it back into place.• He begins by flattering Brutus, in efforts to manipulate him into seeing his point of view.• Or has Lester manipulated me into this recklessness, like a schoolboy dare?From Longman Business Dictionarymanipulatema‧nip‧u‧late /məˈnɪpjəleɪt/ verb [transitive]1to make someone or something behave in the way you want, using skilful and often dishonest methodsmanipulate somebody to do somethingCompanies manipulate consumers to buy their products through advertising.This was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the market (=buy and sell shares to make the market seem active when it is not).activities designed to manipulate (=change the price of) soybean contracts2to process or operate something that needs a lot of skill, for example technical information or a complicated piece of equipmentComputer analysis allows researchers to manipulate data in many different ways.software for storing and manipulating images→ See Verb tableOrigin manipulate (1800-1900) manipulation ((18-21 centuries)), from French, from manipule “handful”, from Latin manipulus 