manual.
Synonym of handbook.
Meaning & usage
Synonym of handbook.
A booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine or product.
The dishwasher isn't working; can you remember where we put the manual?
A drill in the use of weapons, etc.
An old office-book like the modern Roman Catholic ritual.
A keyboard on an organ.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English manuel, from Old French manuel, from Late Latin manuāle (“handbook, manual”).
Performed with the hands.
Operated by means of the hands.
Performed by a human rather than a machine.
The teacher urged the students to do a manual check, because some errors aren't picked up by the spell checker.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English manuel, from Anglo-Norman manuel, Old French manual, from Latin manuālis, from manus (“hand”).
A device that is operated using the hands, or by a human rather than a machine. A manual transmission; a gearbox, especially of a motorized vehicle, shifted by the operator.
Tom's transmission shop can fix both manuals and automatics.
A device that is operated using the hands, or by a human rather than a machine. A vehicle with a manual transmission.
I'm not used to automatics; I've always driven manuals.
A device that is operated using the hands, or by a human rather than a machine. A keyboard for the hands on a harpsichord, organ, or other musical instrument.
A device that is operated using the hands, or by a human rather than a machine. A manual typewriter (as contrasted with an electronic one).
A procedure or operation that is done using the hands, or by a human rather than machine. Manual measurement of the blood pressure, done with a manual sphygmomanometer.
do a manual
give someone a quick manual
A procedure or operation that is done using the hands, or by a human rather than machine. A bicycle technique whereby the front wheel is held aloft by the rider, without the use of pedal force.
A procedure or operation that is done using the hands, or by a human rather than machine. A similar maneuver on a skateboard, lifting the front or back wheels while keeping the tail or nose of the board from touching the ground.
Manual control or operation.
Put the controls to manual.
Leave the system on manual.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English manuel, from Anglo-Norman manuel, Old French manual, from Latin manuālis, from manus (“hand”).
Try it on your idea.
manual has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.