From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmanoeuvrema‧noeu‧vre1 British English, maneuver American English /məˈnuːvə $ -ər/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable]MOVE/CHANGE POSITION a skilful or careful movement that you make, for example in order to avoid something or go through a narrow space A careful driver will often stop talking before carrying out a complex manoeuvre.2 [countable, uncountable]PLAN a skilful or carefully planned action intended to gain an advantage for yourself They tried by diplomatic maneuvers to obtain an agreement.3 → manoeuvres4 → room for manoeuvre/freedom of manoeuvre
Examples from the Corpus
manoeuvre• It was a manoeuvre replete with irony.• Each manoeuvre in their rearguard action has taken them further away from intuitive notions about that exciting enterprise referred to as science.• These coaches will explain the techniques required for each component and the need to start with the easiest manoeuvre.• Nevertheless, the State's room for manoeuvre was increasing.• She saw that Defries and Johannsen were attempting the same manoeuvre.• He reported improvement of the abdominal discomfort and the manoeuvre was repeated a number of times with similar results.• The manoeuvre succeeded, though at a dreadful cost.manoeuvremanoeuvre2 British English, maneuver American English verb 1 [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition]MOVE/CHANGE POSITION to move or turn skilfully or to move or turn something skilfully, especially something large and heavy She managed to manoeuvre expertly into the parking space.manoeuvre yourself into/out of something Josh manoeuvred himself out of bed and hobbled to the door. We manoeuvred the TV in front of the sofa.2 [intransitive, transitive]TRICK/DECEIVE to use cleverly planned and often dishonest methods to get the result that you wantmanoeuvre somebody into/out of something It was a well-organized plan to maneuver company president John Woolford out of office. Businesses manoeuvred to have their industry organized to their own advantage.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
manoeuvre• More expensive wheeled models are available and are easier to handle, but they might need more room to manoeuvre.• The combination of low export prices and high oil import prices means Mr Kufuor's government will have little room to manoeuvre.• The union had judged that if our raft was tied up inside the harbour the local fishing boats would have difficulty manoeuvring.• By the end of the first day the patrol had manoeuvred its way across the narrow neck of the Calanscio Sand Sea.• The blue flag was showing, which indicated they were still manoeuvring the balloon into position.• To put their project together, the two charities had to manoeuvre within a thicket of legal and professional restraints.From Longman Business Dictionarymanoeuvrema‧noeu‧vre1 /məˈnuːvə-ər/ British English, maneuver American English verb [intransitive, transitive] to use clever and often dishonest methods to make something happen or to make someone do what you wantmanoeuvre to do somethingThey had not maneuvered to block Nestlé's bid.manoeuvre somebody into (doing) somethingNot everyone quits jobs voluntarily - some are manoeuvered into it. —manoeuvring noun [uncountable]the political manoeuvring of the trades unions→ See Verb tablemanoeuvremanoeuvre2 British English, maneuver American English noun [countable, uncountable] a skilful or carefully planned action, often a dishonest one, to achieve a particular resultWhatever maneuvers the big soda pop companies make affect the smaller companies as well.You will have more room for manoeuvre (=possible courses of action) if you have avoided agreeing to specific restraints. 