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 also features a simple snap-back bracelet and, crucially, an automatic movement whereas the Professional’s requires a manual wind.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"What's exciting about our findings is they suggest many different birth defects might happen for the same reason: the cell's 3D instruction manual simply gets folded the wrong way."
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
Restaurants once lived and died by their reservation books, big manual records of tables and times typically managed by hosts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
It was practically an instruction manual for life.
From "Schooled" by Gordon Korman
She stayed up late studying how missiles work, digging up old Soviet-era manuals and consulting a nonagenarian rocket scientist whom she hired as an adviser.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
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
The Cambridge researchers took known genetic codes – the instruction manuals of life – from a range of coronaviruses that had been recorded by surveillance programmes hunting for potential viral threats.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 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
They took books, manuals, and index cards, many of them dealing with old ciphers from World War I and the 1920s.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
