mechanical

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: me=chan=i=cal

CIDE DICTIONARY

mechanical, a. [From Mechanic, a.].

•  Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with, mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the quantitative relations of force and matter on a macroscopic scale, as distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, electrical, electronic, atomic etc.; as, mechanical principles; a mechanical theory;  [1913 Webster]
•  Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools; made or formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical precision; mechanical products.  [1913 Webster]

  "We have also divers mechanical arts."  [1913 Webster]
•  Done as if by a machine; uninfluenced by will or emotion; proceeding automatically, or by habit, without special intention or reflection; as, mechanical singing; mechanical verses; mechanical service.  [1913 Webster]
•  Made and operated by interaction of forces without a directing intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.  [1913 Webster]
•  Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate; empirical. See the 2d Note under Geometric.  [1913 Webster]

Mechanical effect, effective power; useful work exerted, as by a machine, in a definite time. -- Mechanical engineering. See the Note under Engineering. -- Mechanical maneuvers (Mil.), the application of mechanical appliances to the mounting, dismounting, and moving of artillery. Farrow. -- Mechanical philosophy, the principles of mechanics applied to the investigation of physical phenomena. -- Mechanical powers, certain simple instruments, such as the lever and its modifications (the wheel and axle and the pulley), the inclined plane with its modifications (the screw and the wedge), which convert a small force acting through a great space into a great force acting through a small space, or vice versa, and are used separately or in combination. -- Mechanical solution (Math.), a solution of a problem by any art or contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means of the ruler and compasses, or other instruments.

mechanical, n. 

 A mechanic.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

mechanical, adj.
1 of or relating to machines or mechanisms.
2 working or produced by machinery.
3 (of a person or action) like a machine; automatic; lacking originality.
4 a (of an agency, principle, etc.) belonging to mechanics. b (of a theory etc.) explaining phenomena by the assumption of mechanical action.
5 of or relating to mechanics as a science.

Idiom

mechanical advantage the ratio of exerted to applied force in a machine. mechanical drawing a scale drawing of machinery etc. done with precision instruments. mechanical engineer a person skilled in the branch of engineering dealing with the design, construction, and repair of machines. mechanical equivalent of heat the conversion factor between heat energy and mechanical energy.

Derivative

mechanicalism n. (in sense 4). mechanically adv. mechanicalness n.

Etymology

ME f. L mechanicus (as MECHANIC)

THESAURUS

mechanical

accordant, aeromechanical, alike, automated, automatic, balanced, biomechanical, blind, cold, colorless, compulsive, conditioned, consistent, consonant, constant, continuous, correspondent, dead, distant, equable, equal, even, flat, forced, habitual, homogeneous, immutable, impersonal, impulsive, inanimate, insensible, instinctive, invariable, involuntary, level, lifeless, locomotive, locomotor, machinal, machine-made, machinelike, matter-of-fact, measured, mechanistic, mechanized, methodic, monolithic, of a piece, ordered, orderly, perfunctory, persistent, power-driven, powered, reflex, reflexive, regular, ritualistic, robotlike, routine, smooth, spiritless, stable, steadfast, steady, systematic, unanimated, unartistic, unbroken, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unconscious, undeviating, undifferentiated, undiversified, unemotional, unfeeling, uniform, uninspired, unintentional, unruffled, unthinking, unvaried, unvarying, unwilled, unwilling, unwitting, zoomechanical

ROGET THESAURUS

mechanical

Necessity

N necessity, involuntariness, instinct, blind impulse, inborn proclivity, innate proclivity, native tendency, natural tendency, natural impulse, predetermination, necessity, necessitation, obligation, compulsion, subjection, stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity, fate, what must be, destiny, destination, fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination, preordination, foreordination, lot fortune, fatalism, inevitableness, spell, star, stars, planet, planets, astral influence, sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate, God's will, will of Heaven, wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice, last shift, last resort, dernier ressort, pis aller, necessaries, necessarian, necessitarian, fatalist, automaton, necessary, needful, fated, destined, elect, spellbound compulsory, uncontrollable, inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible, irrevocable, inexorable, avoidless, resistless, involuntary, instinctive, automatic, blind, mechanical, unconscious, unwitting, unthinking, unintentional, impulsive, necessarily, of necessity, of course, ex necessitate rei, needs must, perforce, nolens volens, will he nil he, willy nilly, bon gre mal gre, willing or unwilling, coute que coute, faute de mieux, by stress of, if need be, it cannot be helped, there is no help for, there is no helping it, it will be, it must be, it needs to be, it must be so, it will have its way, the die is cast, jacta est alea, che sara sara, it is written, one's days are numbered, one's fate is sealed, Fata obstant, diis aliter visum, actum me invito factus, non est meus actus, aujord'hui roi demain rien, quisque suos patimur manes, The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit shall draw it back to ca.

Means

N means, resources, wherewithal, ways and means, capital, revenue, stock in trade, provision, a shot in the locker, appliances, means and appliances, conveniences, cards to play, expedients, two strings to one's bow, sheet anchor, aid, medium, instrumental, mechanical, by means of, with, by what means, by all means, by any means, by some means, wherewith, herewith, therewith, wherewithal, how, through, with the aid of, by the aid of, by the agency of.

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.