Maneuver and manoeuvre are the same word, covering both a skilful planned movement and a clever tactic used to gain advantage. Maneuver is the American spelling; manoeuvre is the British one. If you are steering something carefully into a tight space, either spelling works, just pick the one that matches your audience.
The core difference
Same word for a skilful movement or tactic, spelt differently on each side of the Atlantic.
- maneuver — American spelling, noun or verb: She maneuvered the truck into the narrow loading bay.
- manoeuvre — British spelling of the same word: She had to manoeuvre the boat carefully through the narrow channel.
How to tell them apart
Both spellings come from French manœuvre, which goes back to Latin manu operari, meaning to work by hand — the same root that gives English manual and operate. The word covers a literal skilful movement, such as parallel parking, and a figurative one, such as a shrewd political move.
A memory hook: British English keeps more of the French spelling, with its oeu cluster intact, while American English trims it to a simpler maneuver. This mix-up shows up often in driving-test guides and military or political writing, where both spellings appear depending on the publication's house style.
