A manual is a book or document that explains how something works or how to do something. When you buy a new board game, the manual tells you the rules and how to play. When your family gets a new appliance, the manual shows you how to set it up and use it safely. Car owners keep repair manuals to help them fix problems, and software programs come with manuals explaining their features.

The word also has another meaning: done by hand rather than by machine. Manual labor means physical work using your hands and body, like digging, building, or harvesting crops. A manual transmission in a car requires the driver to shift gears by hand, unlike an automatic transmission that shifts itself. Manual work isn't less valuable than other kinds: skilled manual workers like carpenters, mechanics, and surgeons spend years perfecting what they can do with their hands.

When you do something manually, you're doing it by hand instead of letting a machine do it. You might manually wind a watch or manually count votes instead of using a computer.