the force of workers available
"The company expanded its operations by hiring a significant amount of manpower to meet the increased demand."
The total number of all available workers; the workforce.
"The company's expansion plans depend entirely on securing enough manpower to staff the new factories."
In plain English: Manpower is simply the number of people available to do work for an organization.
"The construction company hired more workers to boost their manpower before the holiday rush began."
Usage: Manpower is often used interchangeably with labor or workforce, but it specifically emphasizes the quantity of people rather than their skills or productivity. Avoid using "manpower" in modern contexts where gender neutrality is preferred, as terms like work force are now standard alternatives.
The word manpower is a straightforward combination of the words man and power that emerged to describe the labor force available for work or military service. It entered English directly from this compound formation without borrowing from another language.