 Local degree of a continuous map

Let $f:M\to N$ be a continuous map between oriented $d$-dimensional manifolds, with $d\ge 1$. Suppose $x$ is an isolated point of the fiber over $y=f(x)$. Choose an open neighborhood $U$ with $U\cap f^{-1}(y)=\{x\}$. The map of pairsinduces a map between rank-one degree-$d$ local homology groups. Relative to the local orientation of a manifold, this map is multiplication by an integer, the local degree. Excision makes it independent of the neighborhood. A smooth map between manifolds with invertible derivative at $x$ has local degree $\mathrm{sign}\det D{f}_x$, by the inverse function theorem and the chosen orientations.