manually

adverb

ma·​nu·​al·​ly ˈman-yə-wə-lē How to pronounce manually (audio)
-yə-lē, 
-yü-ə-lē
: by hand and not by machine : by manual methods
We have to enter the data manually.
Each winch drum is attached to gears which are turned manually by a large wheel mounted on the inboard side.—Nancy Taylor Robson

Examples of manually in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
If a physician has to log into another platform or manually reconcile another stream of data, RPM becomes one more burden rather than a source of clarity. — Ayush Jain, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026 The software can be configured to install updates automatically, or users can manually download and install them. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026 The mapping will be done manually, with a driver behind the wheel, to improve the Waymo Driver software’s understanding of real-world conditions and traffic patterns. — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 19 Oct. 2026 The pilot was not manually controlling every movement of the uncrewed aircraft. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 17 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for manually

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of manually was in the 15th century

Rhymes for manually

See All Rhymes for manually

Browse Nearby Words

manualiter
manually
manual rate
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Manually.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manually. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All