boilerplate vs manual

boilerplate

noun
  • A plate attached to industrial machinery, identifying information such as manufacturer, model number, serial number, and power requirements. 

  • A sheet of copper or steel used in the construction of a boiler. 

  • Syndicated material. 

  • The rating plate or nameplate required to be affixed to a boiler by the Boiler Explosions Act (1882). 

  • Standard text or program code used routinely and added with a text editor or word processor; text of a legal or official nature added to documents or labels. 

  • Hard, icy snow which may be dangerous to ski on. 

  • Formulaic or hackneyed language. 

verb
  • To store (standard text) so that it can easily be retrieved for reuse. 

adj
  • Describing text or other material of a standard or routine nature. 

  • Used to refer to a non-functional spacecraft used to test configuration and procedures. 

manual

noun
  • A booklet that instructs on the usage of a particular machine or product. 

  • A vehicle with a manual transmission. 

  • 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. 

  • A keyboard for the hands on a harpsichord, organ, or other musical instrument. 

  • A drill in the use of weapons, etc. 

  • Manual control or operation. 

  • A handbook. 

  • An old office-book like the modern Roman Catholic ritual. 

  • A manual typewriter (as contrasted with an electronic one). 

  • Manual measurement of the blood pressure, done with a manual sphygmomanometer. 

  • A bicycle technique whereby the front wheel is held aloft by the rider, without the use of pedal force. 

  • A manual transmission; a gearbox, especially of a motorized vehicle, shifted by the operator. 

adj
  • Performed with the hands. 

  • Operated by means of the hands. 

  • Performed by a human rather than a machine. 

How often have the words boilerplate and manual occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )