transitive verb manipulated -·lat′ed, manipulating -·lat′·ing

1. to work, operate, or treat with or as with the hand or hands; handle or use, esp. with skill
2. to manage or control artfully or by shrewd use of influence, often in an unfair or fraudulent way to manipulate an election by bribing the voters
3. 1. to falsify (figures, accounts, etc.) for one's own purposes or profit; rig
   2. to cause (prices of stock, etc.) to fall or rise by wash sales, matched orders, etc.

Etymology: back-form. < manipulation