- [countable] a movement performed with care and skill
- a complicated/skilful manoeuvre
- You will be asked to perform some standard manoeuvres during your driving test.
Extra Examples- The pilot has to carry out a series of complex manoeuvres.
- Careful—this is a tricky manoeuvre.
- They attempted the manoeuvre five or six times.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- complex
- complicated
- difficult
- …
- series
- carry out
- do
- execute
- …
Definitions on the go
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- [countable, uncountable] a clever plan, action or movement that is used to give somebody an advantage synonym move
- diplomatic manoeuvres
- a complex manoeuvre in a game of chess
- The amendment was somehow introduced by political manoeuvre.
Extra Examples- Her withdrawal from the contest was a tactical manoeuvre.
- It was difficult to keep track of his political manoeuvres.
- She defended her latest manoeuvre in a letter to the press.
- This could be a clever pre-election manoeuvre.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- brilliant
- strategic
- tactical
- …
- use
- carry out
- execute
- …
- fail
- by a/the manoeuvre
- freedom of manoeuvre
- room for manoeuvre
- manoeuvres[plural] military exercises involving a large number of soldiers, ships, etc.
- on manoeuvres The army is on manoeuvres in the desert.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- military
- strategic
- tactical
- …
- carry out
- conduct
- execute
- …
- battalion
- brigade
- force
- …
- be on manoeuvres
- go on manoeuvres
Word Originmid 18th cent. (as a noun in the sense ‘tactical movement’): from French manœuvre (noun), manœuvrer (verb), from medieval Latin manuoperare from Latin manus ‘hand’ + operari ‘to work’.
Idioms
See manoeuvre in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishfreedom of/room for manoeuvre
- the chance to change the way that something happens and influence decisions that are made
- Small farmers have limited room for manoeuvre.
Extra Examples- The economic conditions are restricting the bank's freedom of manoeuvre.
- The government has very little room for manoeuvre on this issue.
Check pronunciation:
manoeuvre