manual
Americanadjective
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done, operated, worked, etc., by the hand or hands rather than by an electrical or electronic device.
a manual gearshift.
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involving or using human effort, skill, power, energy, etc.; physical.
manual labor.
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of or relating to the hand or hands.
manual deformities.
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of the nature of a manual or handbook.
manual instructions.
noun
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manuals
plural
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a small book, especially one giving information or instructions.
a manual of mathematical tables.
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a nonelectric or nonelectronic typewriter; a typewriter whose keys and carriage may be powered solely by the typist's hands.
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Military. the prescribed drill in handling a rifle.
the manual of arms.
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Music. a keyboard, especially one of several belonging to a pipe organ.
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Automotive. manual transmission.
adjective
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of or relating to a hand or hands
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operated or done by hand
manual controls
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physical, as opposed to mental or mechanical
manual labour
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by human labour rather than automatic or computer-aided means
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of, relating to, or resembling a manual
noun
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a book, esp of instructions or information
a car manual
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music one of the keyboards played by hand on an organ
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military the prescribed drill with small arms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of manual
First recorded in 1375–1425; from Latin manuālis (adjective), manuāle (noun) “(something) that can be held in the hand” ( manu(s) “hand” + -ālis, -āle -al 1, -al 2 ); replacing late Middle English manuel, from Middle French, from Latin, as above
Explanation
Something manual is operated by human hands. Before Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, picking cotton was a manual job. Nowadays, farmers might need to read a manual to know how to operate a cotton gin. The word manual comes from Latin root words meaning "of the hand," and the adjective form of the word still maintains that meaning — "by hand or of the hands." The adjective definition is also extended a bit to mean something done by hand and not machine, and the implication is usually that it is physical work. As a noun, manual means "an instruction booklet or handbook."
Vocabulary lists containing manual
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Body Language: Man ("Hand")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It is similar to squeezing a miles-long instruction manual into the head of a pin.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
Last week, the National Academy of Sciences, a Congressionally-chartered yet independent body, removed from its website a chapter on climate science from a manual for judges.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
When the manual hit shelves in May 2013, only about half of Americans had a smartphone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Service industry - or "white collar" jobs - take a larger share of the economy and there has been a decline in traditional manufacturing and other "blue collar" work such as manual labour.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
He recognized one as part of an old edition of A History of Magic, by Bathilda Bagshot, and another as belonging to a motorcycle maintenance manual.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
US prosecutors charged that Boeing misled FAA regulators about MCAS, resulting in no reference to the system in manuals and pilot training materials.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
Once, video games came with lots of physical goodies, such as guides, maps and manuals.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
There have been dozens of painters—albeit fewer and fewer now that the favored mode of contemporary art is no longer painting—who took Hofmann’s canvases and philosophy as veritable instruction manuals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Frontier labs already maintain internal safety processes, rehearse responses to cyberattacks, and publish manuals for their systems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Chord manuals, fingering charts, chord diagrams, and notes written out on a staff are all very useful, especially if the composer wants a very particular sound on a chord.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
