Mechanical
[mɪ'kænɪk(ə)l] or [mɪ'kænɪkəl]
Definition
(adj.) using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices; 'a mechanical process'; 'his smile was very mechanical'; 'a mechanical toy' .
(adj.) relating to or governed by or in accordance with mechanics; 'a belief that the universe is a mechanical contrivance'; 'the mechanical pressure of a strong wind' .
(adj.) relating to or concerned with machinery or tools; 'mechanical arts'; 'mechanical design'; 'mechanical skills' .
Typist: Sophie--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with, mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the quantitative relations of force and matter, as distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as, mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical deposits.
(a.) 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.
(a.) 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.
(a.) Made and operated by interaction of forces without a directing intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.
(a.) Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate; empirical. See the 2d Note under Geometric.
(n.) A mechanic.
Inputed by Augustine
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Involuntary, blind, automatic.
Typist: Preston
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Habitual, automatic, unreflective, spontaneous, effortless, unimpassioned
ANT:Labored, self-conscious, feeling, forced, spirited, appreciative, lifelike,lively, animated, impassioned
Inputed by Gavin
Examples
- His mouth was such a post-office of a mouth that he had a mechanical appearance of smiling. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- American youths to-day are given, if of a mechanical turn of mind, to amateur telegraphy or telephony, but seldom, if ever, have to make any part of the system constructed. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Against the unifying effort of Christendom and against the unifying influence of the mechanical revolution, catastrophe won. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But even thus early the stronger love of mechanical processes and of probing natural forces manifested itself. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- And without those powers, what mechanical tool or machine has since been developed? William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- In the mechanical arts, the sciences become methods of managing things so as to utilize their energies for recognized aims. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- This consisted of mechanical means for throwing the shuttle across the web by a sudden jerk of a bar--one at each side--operated by pulling a cord. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Edison’s record was not for visual inspection, but was endowed with the mechanical function of reproducing sound. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- History fails to relate a great deal about the mechanical detail of the Pennington model, but it is said to have made a very creditable performance in exhibition. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- In a little more than a century this mechanical revolution has been brought about. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- She was watching the fingers twitch across the eternal, mechanical, monotonous clock-face of time. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Upon this history, therefore, mechanical and illiberal as it may seem (all fineness and daintiness set aside), the greatest diligence must be bestowed. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The contraction of the frog's legs may with considerable safety be said to be caused by these mechanical vibrations being transmitted through the conducting wires. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- He saw the grotesque, and a curious sort of mechanical motion intoxicated him, a confusion in nature. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Herein lay the spring of the mechanical art and mystery of educating the reason without stooping to the cultivation of the sentiments and affections. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
Checker: Vivian