by hand

Idioms  

1. With a hand or hands, manually (as opposed to a machine or some other means). For example, This letter was delivered by hand, or You can make these drawings by hand, but computer graphics are more efficient. [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

Much like manufacturing barbed wire, making clothes in the 1860s was a time-consuming effort, with pretty much everything people wore sewn by hand.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

In Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers were still mapping networks of insurgents and roadside bombs by hand until FDEs arrived to stitch together PowerPoints and memos into a centralized intelligence platform.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 4, 2026

Some of the buildings at the Thahtay Kyaung monastery, where saffron-clad monks cleared rubble from the wreckage by hand in the days after the quake, have been razed.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Despite our digital era, he remains committed to analog, avoids flashes and develops the negatives by hand.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

Some books were sold like this, with uncolored prints, while others were colored by hand.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman