(ˈ)mis+ transitive verb
Etymology: Middle English mishandelen, from mis- (I) + handelen to handle — more at handle
1. : to treat roughly or cruelly : maltreat
dragged her out and mishandled her — Polly Adler
tormented, mishandled, shamefully cast away peoples — Sir Winston Churchill
2. : to manage wrongly or ignorantly
many of them also mishandle or totally ignore some of the basic philosophic problems of materialism — Eliseo Vivas
mishandled the car and burned out a bearing