The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Handle \Han"dle\ (h[a^]n"d'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Handled
   (-d'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Handling (-dl[i^]ng).] [OE.
   handlen, AS. handlian; akin to D. handelen to trade, G.
   handeln. See Hand.]
   1. To touch; to feel with the hand; to use or hold with the
      hand.
      [1913 Webster]

            Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh.
                                                  --Luke xxiv.
                                                  39.
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            About his altar, handling holy things. --Milton.
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   2. To manage in using, as a spade or a musket; to wield;
      often, to manage skillfully.
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            That fellow handles his bow like a crowkeeper.
                                                  --Shak.
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   3. To accustom to the hand; to work upon, or take care of,
      with the hands.
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            The hardness of the winters forces the breeders to
            house and handle their colts six months every year.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Temple.
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   4. To receive and transfer; to have pass through one's hands;
      hence, to buy and sell; as, a merchant handles a variety
      of goods, or a large stock.
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   5. To deal with; to make a business of.
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            They that handle the law knew me not. --Jer. ii. 8.
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   6. To treat; to use, well or ill.
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            How wert thou handled being prisoner? --Shak.
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   7. To manage; to control; to practice skill upon.
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            You shall see how I will handle her.  --Shak.
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   8. To use or manage in writing or speaking; to treat, as a
      theme, an argument, or an objection.
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            We will handle what persons are apt to envy others.
                                                  --Bacon.
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   To handle without gloves. See under Glove. [Colloq.]
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Handling \Han"dling\ (h[a^]n"dl[i^]ng), n. [AS. handlung.]
   1. A touching, controlling, managing, using, etc., with the
      hand or hands, or as with the hands. See Handle, v. t.
      [1913 Webster]

            The heavens and your fair handling
            Have made you master of the field this day.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Drawing, Painting, etc.) The mode of using the pencil or
      brush, etc.; style of touch. --Fairholt.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Manhandle \Man*han"dle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. -handled; p. pr.
   & vb. n. -handling.]
   1. To move, or manage, by human force without mechanical aid;
      as, to manhandle a cannon.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   2. To handle roughly; as, the captive was manhandled.
      [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

handling
    n 1: manual (or mechanical) carrying or moving or delivering or
         working with something
    2: the action of touching with the hands (or the skillful use of
       the hands) or by the use of mechanical means [syn:
       handling, manipulation]
    3: the management of someone or something; "the handling of
       prisoners"; "the treatment of water sewage"; "the right to
       equal treatment in the criminal justice system" [syn:
       treatment, handling]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

79 Moby Thesaurus words for "handling":
   accomplishment, achievement, action, administration, agency,
   authority, care, caressing, charge, command, commission,
   completion, conduct, control, custodianship, direction, discharge,
   dispatch, driving, effectuation, employment, enactment, execution,
   exercise, exploitation, feeling, fingering, friction, frottage,
   functioning, governance, government, guidance, husbandry,
   implementation, intendance, lead, leading, management, managery,
   managing, manipulation, means of dealing, occupation, operancy,
   operation, ordering, oversight, palpation, performance, performing,
   perpetration, petting, pilotage, practice, pressure, regulation,
   responsibility, rubbing, running, steerage, steering, stewardship,
   stroking, superintendence, superintendency, supervision, the conn,
   the helm, the wheel, touching, transaction, treatment, usage,
   using, utilization, work, working, workings