Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (later use US) the (root of the) penis.

1690		‘Teague’ Teagueland Jests I 123: The Distemper [i.e. a ‘clap’] grew daily worse and worse and put poor Teague in great Fear of losing the Handle of his Belly.
1710		graffito in Merry-Thought III 8: A ’Pothecary’s Wife, Who never lov’d her Spouse in all her Life; And for want of his handle, Made use of a candle.
1714		in R.G. Reisner Graffiti (1971) 129: The Girls that love / Have learn’d the Use of Candles; And since that, by Jove [...] We have lost the Use of Handles.
c.1900		A. Cairene Sixfold Sensuality 13: He rubbed some spit on the handle of his belly and some on the bum in front of him.
1902		D. St John Memoirs of Madge Buford 53: ‘I’m going to see that big muscular fellow fuck you right up to the handle’.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 319: Though there is that patch to which he is accustomed to seeing a handle, now no handle, how to handle?!

2. the nose.

1690		‘Teague’ Teagueland Jests I 70: The Crab seizes him by the Nose [and] the Footman made a hideous Lamentation, crying out [...] Make dish Deevil let go de haundle of mee Faushe.
1696		Motteux (trans.) Gargantua and Pantagruel (1927) II Bk V 610: And thus sleeping, they had barnacles on the handles of their faces.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum n.p.: The cove flashes a rare handle to his physog; the fellow has a large nose.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1842		Flash (NY) 2 Oct. n.p.: Lize received a severe chopper upon the terrible handle of her countenance.
1859, 1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
1873		Sl. Dict.
1887		Modern Society 27 Aug. 864: A restless, intriguing, and busy old lady, with an immense handle to her face.
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

3. a name, a nickname, a title (esp. as spoken rather than written); thus a handle to one’s name, a title, an honorific.

1821–6		‘Bill Truck’ Man o’ War’s Man (1843) 353: ‘To The President of the Delegates’ [...] That’s the handle of my Sunday’s name, you must know, my lads.
1822		‘A. Burton’ My Cousin in the Army 105: The men [...] With pretty handles to their names;— The Hons. and Barts. and KCB’s.
1833		‘Dip, the Tallow-Chandler’ in Out-and-Outer in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 151: They call’d him Dip though his name was Dan, / But he never cares how many handles.
1834		Marryat Peter Simple (1911) 22: ‘Mister Coxswain! thanky, sir, for giving me a handle to my name,’ replied he.
1843		T. Haliburton Sam Slick in England I 265: Seein’ that you have no handle to your name [...] it’s most likely you can’t answer.
1843		Bellew Memoirs of a Griffin I 264: ‘[He] hailed me only last night in the park by my surname, Sir — no prefix, by George, no handle’.
1854		Thackeray Newcomes I 222: She [...] entertains us with stories of colonial governors and their ladies, mentioning no persons but those who ‘had handles to their names,’ as the phrase is.
1865		R.S. Surtees Facey Romford’s Hounds 118: Ar didn’t ken yeer mistress had a handle tir her name.
1866		Wild Boys of London I 83/2: ‘Can you put a handle to it?’ ‘Yes;’ say Adolphus de Villiers.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple III 42: Barring the handle, you’ve got it right, my lads; John Pogson is my name.
1879		London Life 31 May 2/2: Many a noble lord of high degree, Whose only claim to real nobility. Lies in the handle to his name.
1881		Bulletin (Sydney) 15 Jan. 9/2: Neither of the ‘handles’ is to be found in ‘Burke’ – not even in the ‘Chads’ list, which enumerates those claiming rank not acknowledged by the authorities.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 35: Handle to His Name, knighthood.
1895		J. London ‘’Frisco Kid’s Story’ in High School Aegis X (15 Feb.) 2–3: Charley wuz his handle?
1900		A Chevalier [perf. Albert Chevalier] ‘An ’Andle to my Name’ 🎵 And at last I've scored, for altho’ I’m not a Lord, / I’ve an 'andle to my name.
1901		Marvel XV:373 Jan. 4: What’s yer handle?
1910		‘O. Henry’ ‘Past One at Rooney’s’ in Strictly Business (1915) 263: That’s a swell handle [...] Mine’s McManus.
1914		Day Book (Chicago) 26 May 13/2: ‘Did you ever hear about a man named Lord Cowdray?’ ‘No,’ said the sentry. [...] ‘How would I be knowing one of those foreign wops with handles to their names?’.
1920		R. Lardner Big Town 101: But they’s only one in the bunch that’s got any handle to her name; that’s Lady Perkins.
1929		W. Winchell On Broadway 27 Aug. [synd. col.] Clifton Webb’s real handle is Clifton Raum.
1936		R. Chandler ‘Goldfish’ in Red Wind (1946) 167: ‘What’s your handle?’ ‘Dodge Willis, El Paso.’.
1944		L. Glassop We Were the Rats 5: What’s all this—? Are ya havin’ me on? What’s that there fancy handle ya give me?
1958		W. Talsman Gaudy Image (1966) 17: It’s my handle [...] Passion Rat, they call me.
1964		B. Hesling Dinkumization or Depommification 128: ‘I’m Ossie. Me cobber’s Skim.’ These were the handles by which they wanted to be known.
1971		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 53: They even had the class to pick one of the most righteous handles of all time: the Troggs.
1978		A. Burgess 1985 (1980) 156: Watch it [...] I’ve got a handle to my name.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 139: Skaters [...] thought he said Wheels, a natural handle for a skater. Hence, Mr Wheels.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 222: The handle Gypsy went with the new cover for the tatoos and rings.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 73: My name’s Lily [...] Whats your handle?
2009		Times (2) 30 Apr. 8/1: A 49-year-old trucker who wished to be known only by his handle (the moniker truckers use on their radio system).
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 63: The mixture of hyper-speed Sicilian and slow English that earned native guys like him the behind-the-back handle ‘zips’.
2013		T. Black Ringer [ebook] n.p.: ‘Got any jellies, Stauner?’ It’s some wee ned I don’t even know, but he knows my handle.
2014		Observer 13 Apr. 17/4: His Twitter handle [...] seems to sum up his mission: keeping it real.

4. a fool.

1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.

5. an influence on; a role in.

[1824		J. Hogg Justified Sinner 24: [P]oints of such minor importance, that a true Christian would blush to hear them mentioned, and the infidel and profane make a handle of them to turn our religion to scorn].
1867		Sportsman 19 Oct. 2/1: Notes on News [...] Mr Small [a clergyman] may be none the better for his profession and the ‘handle’ it gives him, but the presumption is against such man being both ass and blackguard.
1877		J. Greenwood Dick Temple III 89: His signing the false statement gives us all the handle we require.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 51: Otto, president of the chapter, couldn’t get a handle anywhere.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 316: The idea man granted renewed standing for having a handle on the caper.

6. (US Und.) in pl., side-whiskers.

1914

Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 42: handles [...] Limited usage, chiefly by criminals who understand more or less about physiognomical description and disguises. Side-whiskers; ‘mutton chops.’.

7. (Aus./N.Z.) a pint glass of beer with a handle (as opposed to a ‘straight’ glass); thus half-handle half a pint.

1908		Eve. Jrnl (Adelaide, SA) 2 June 2/1: Defendant said when the police entered he was in the act of serving a boarder with a ‘handle’ of beer.
1919		Nambour Chron. (Qld) 6 June 7/4: Sorry to have to contradict ‘Duglio’, but hope to meet him some day in Young and Jackson’s Bar and, over a long one with a handle on it, tell him personally how greatful we were for the assistance of his Heavies, which enabled us to hng [sic] on to Mont Hemmel until relieved in April.
1938		R. Finlayson Brown Man’s Burden 40: ‘A handle of beer,’ Mr Puttle was saying easily to the barman.
1941		F. Sargeson ‘That Summer’ in Coll. Stories (1965) 161: The barman took my half-handle to fill it again.
1965		J. O’Grady Aussie Eng. (1966) 16: Containers run from five-ounce glasses to eighteen gallon kegs. There are middies, schooners, ponies, lady’s waists, butchers, handles, mugs, jugs [etc].
1978		M.J. ‘Chap’ Burton Bush Pub (1983) 41: ‘I want a handle of beer with a dash of rum, Burt,’ Joe said.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 54/2: handle glass of beer with handle; also half-handle; pint and half-pint, in imperial measures.
1993		Aus. Word Map 🌐 handle [...] ‘The term handle is used at traditional inner urban/city Melbourne pubs. Generally speaking, it is preferable not to drink from a 'handle' given the similarity to sipping a cup of tea (the handle on the side)’.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988].

8. (US gambling) the amount of bets placed by bettors on a particular event, or with at a particular casino, etc.

1945		W.R. Burnett Tomorrow’s Another Day 117: ‘Only thing that worries me,’ he said, ‘is all this money pouring in. It’s going to look bad.’ [...] ‘I can plant it from New York City to New Orleans. A thousand here, a thousand there. Nothing to it. Ray here is the best man there is on the handle. We’ve turned some big ones in our time, eh, Ray?’.
2000		P. Earley Super Casino 218: Once again the report used a casino term: the ‘handle.’ This was the total number of coins played in a slot machine.
2015		(con. 1919) C. Fountain Betrayal 6: [O]ver time, baseball might have devolved into little more than a vehicle for the betting men [...] the final score a far less important stat than the day’s handle.

9. (US campus) a ring of excess fat around one’s stomach, a ‘spare tyre’.

1989

P. Munro Sl. U.

10. (US) in pl., the female breasts.

1980

T. Lorenz Guys Like Us 128: She wasn’t bad, good legs, nice handles, maybe she’d be there.