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.
Video evidence is valuable, but reviewing it manually can take hours. — Matthew Polega, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 If adding fabric softener in manually, make sure to pour it into the water in the machine, not directly on top of clothing. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 2 July 2026 If the flyovers run late or fast, users can manually adjust the timer, and the app will automatically display which aircraft is coming up next. — Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 4 July 2026 The model flagged over 60 possible capital cases, and those were manually reviewed. — Ken B. Morales, ProPublica, 1 July 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 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on manually

Nglish: Translation of manually for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
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
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All