manage

If you organize and control a business, task, or situation, you take care of how it works.

• She manages a small shop.
• We need to manage our money better.
• Who managed the project last year?

Similar words: run, control, administer

Common phrases: manage a business, manage a team, manage your time

If you do something successfully despite difficulty, you are able to achieve it.

• She managed a small smile.
• Can you manage the stairs without help?
• Despite his sore throat, he managed a few words.

How to use it: manage without someone/something (Can you manage without my help?)

Similar words: accomplish, cope with

Common phrases: manage a smile, manage something alone, manage without something, manage to finish

To do something unwanted or foolish, often in a surprising way.

• I managed to spill my tea.
• He somehow managed to miss both trains.
• How did you manage to lock yourself out again?

How to use it: manage to do something (She managed to delete the wrong file.)

Common phrases: manage to break, manage to lose, manage to spill