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manpower

manpower

81 3.7
The number of people who can do work in a company or area
  • noun
  • /ˈmænˌpaʊər/
translation icon : mano de obra
  • The problems include a lack of coordination among agencies, inadequate manpower, insufficient resources, and lack of enforcement.
  • a manpower shortage
  • available manpower
  • supply manpower

You're going to need to bring the manpower, the muscle.

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Examples

  • The construction company hired additional manpower to complete the project ahead of schedule.

  • I have devoted all our time, manpower, and money to it, and nothing is coming in.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Which means that less manpower was available to fight in the United States.

  • This was the big thing, because the German manpower situation had been serious for a while now.

  • - We have the manpower we need.

  • Do we have the manpower?

  • Special skills assistance, materials, and manpower are available from any number of sources.

    Academic text (1991)
  • We'll provide manpower and search support, along with the other counties.

  • And what the private sector needs is security, infrastructure, and skilled manpower as quickly as possible.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In addition, a shortage of manpower led the military to employ Black people in all areas of service.

    Academic text (2015)

Synonyms

workforce
vsmanpower
249 2.4

All the people who work in a company, industry, or country

covers the same total but in any organization or sector
labor force
vsmanpower
  • Specialized
41 2.2

All the people in a country who can and are available to work

emphasizes workers actually employed or available for work in an organisation
labor pool
vsmanpower
  • US
4 3.7

A group of workers available for companies to hire

refers to the overall count of people available or employed in a place
labor resources
vsmanpower
  • US
1 3.3

Workers who are available to do jobs in a country or company

counts everyone available or employed to carry out work
workpeople
vsmanpower
3.9

People who do jobs using their hands in places like factories

is broader, including all types of employees beyond manual roles
hands
vsmanpower
1.6

People who do physical work, especially on farms or in factories

is the neutral general count of people available or employed for work

How Many

labor force
  • Specialized
41 2.2
workforce
249 2.4
manpower
81 3.7
staff
1.0
crew
1.3
team
1.0
worker
600 1.0

Surface Forms

manpower singular
manpowers plural

Morphology

manpower = man + power (transparent) = man + power

The meaning 'workforce/available people' is directly built from 'man' (person/worker) + 'power' (capacity), so learners can compositionaly infer the sense.

Etymology

The word manpower comes from the parts man, which originally meant 'person' or 'people', and power, meaning 'strength' or 'ability'. So manpower literally means 'people power' and refers to the number or strength of people available to do work, which is why we use it for the workforce.