Mechanism
['mek(ə)nɪz(ə)m] or ['mɛkənɪzəm]
Definition
(noun.) the technical aspects of doing something; 'a mechanism of social control'; 'mechanisms of communication'; 'the mechanics of prose style'.
(noun.) device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function.
(noun.) (philosophy) the philosophical theory that all phenomena can be explained in terms of physical or biological causes.
(noun.) a natural object resembling a machine in structure or function; 'the mechanism of the ear'; 'the mechanism of infection'.
(noun.) the atomic process that occurs during a chemical reaction; 'he determined unique mechanisms for the photochemical reactions'.
Typed by Chauncey--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.
(n.) Mechanical operation or action.
(n.) An ideal machine; a combination of movable bodies constituting a machine, but considered only with regard to relative movements.
Editor: Pasquale
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Mechanical action, mechanical agency.[2]. Machinery.
Checker: Paulette
Examples
- Notwithstanding its simple action, its structure is complicated by a large amount of adding mechanism. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- And he was hoisted, first by the mechanism which was used to hoist the arc light but this broke-- Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- In Fig. 282 is given a section and plan view of the Greener mechanism, which was patented July 6, 1880, No. 229,604, and was one of the first guns of this kind put on the market. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Holmes had picked up the powerful air-gun from the floor, and was examining its mechanism. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- These machines mark an important departure, which consists in working the buttonhole by moving the stitch forming mechanism about the buttonhole, instead of moving the fabric. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- This iron shell is put in place segmentally by means of a shield, an ingenious mechanism which both protects the work under construction and assists in the building of the iron shell. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It was mechanical, but then society WAS a mechanism. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Yet the unfailing mechanism of her will worked on, she had that activity. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- In this manner the letters of the alphabet were indicated by dots upon a strip of paper, kept slowly moving by clock mechanism. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- By an ingenious arrangement of the mechanism, the film moves intermittently so that it may have a much longer period of rest than of motion. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The earth is more than a mechanism, it is an organism that repairs and restores itself in perpetuity. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- When the pointed tube was driven until water was reached the inner tube was withdrawn and a pump mechanism inserted. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Above this cylinder is the mechanism that acts upon the keys. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- For this purpose an original record by suitable mechanism is made to take the place of the speaker or singer, and so multiplies and reproduces the original record. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Its mechanism was so incomprehensible to most people that they refused to regard it seriously. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Let them turn into mechanisms, let them. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- We have elaborate governmental mechanisms--like the tariff, for example, which we go on making more scientific year in, year out--having long since lost sight of their human purpose. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Other mechanisms cut and divided the block into strips, which were then dipped at one end, dried and tied in bundles. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Great Range of Mechanisms to Treat the Tenderest Pods and Smallest Seeds. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- We must not conclude this notice of Paper Making Machinery without alluding to the ingenious self-acting mechanisms for making envelopes. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- They result by a criminal neglect of builders or engineers to provide themselves with such devices, or by a most ignorant or careless management and operation of simple actuating mechanisms. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Vast Rolls, and Most Delicate Watch Mechanisms, cut by the Lathe and its Tools. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The making of roads, railroads, canals and tunnels has called forth thousands of ingenious mechanisms for their accomplishment. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- In one form or another this construction enters into most all modern breech mechanisms. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
Typed by Barnaby