Physical
['fɪzɪk(ə)l] or ['fɪzɪkl]
Definition
(adj.) having substance or material existence; perceptible to the senses; 'a physical manifestation'; 'surrounded by tangible objects' .
(adj.) concerned with material things; 'physical properties'; 'the physical characteristics of the earth'; 'the physical size of a computer' .
(adj.) characterized by energetic bodily activity; 'a very physical dance performance' .
(adj.) according with material things or natural laws (other than those peculiar to living matter); 'a reflex response to physical stimuli' .
(adj.) involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit; 'physical exercise'; 'physical suffering'; 'was sloppy about everything but her physical appearance' .
(adj.) relating to the sciences dealing with matter and energy; especially physics; 'physical sciences'; 'physical laws' .
Editor: Lucius--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Of or pertaining to nature (as including all created existences); in accordance with the laws of nature; also, of or relating to natural or material things, or to the bodily structure, as opposed to things mental, moral, spiritual, or imaginary; material; natural; as, armies and navies are the physical force of a nation; the body is the physical part of man.
(a.) Of or pertaining to physics, or natural philosophy; treating of, or relating to, the causes and connections of natural phenomena; as, physical science; physical laws.
(a.) Perceptible through a bodily or material organization; cognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical, opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.
(a.) Of or pertaining to physic, or the art of medicine; medicinal; curative; healing; also, cathartic; purgative.
Checked by Clive
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Material, corporeal, bodily, natural, sensible.[2]. Medicinal, cathartic, purgative.
Typist: Molly
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Natural, material, visible, tangible, substantial, corporeal
ANT:Mental, moral, intellectual, spiritual, immaterial, invisible, intangible,unsubstantial, supernatural, hyperphysical
Editor: Orville
Definition
adj. pertaining to nature or to natural objects: pertaining to material things: of or pertaining to natural philosophy: known to the senses: pertaining to the body.—n. Phys′icalist one who thinks that human thought and action are determined by the physical organisation.—adv. Phys′ically.—ns. Phys′icism (-sizm) belief in the material or physical as opposed to the spiritual; Phys′icist (-sist) a student of nature: one versed in physics: a natural philosopher: one who believes that life is merely a form of physical energy.—Physical astronomy an account of the causes of the motions of the heavenly bodies; Physical education training of the bodily powers by exercise; Physical examination an examination of the bodily state of a person; Physical force force applied outwardly to the body as distinguished from persuasion &c.; Physical geography an account of the state of the earth in its natural condition—its mountain-chains ocean-currents distribution of plants and animals conditions of climate &c.; Physical truth the agreement of thought with what exists in nature; Physical world the world of matter.
Typist: Michael
Examples
- To talk about training a power, mental or physical, in general, apart from the subject matter involved in its exercise, is nonsense. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- We have been speaking of life in its lowest terms--as a physical thing. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- In the physical as in the financial world, nothing is to be had without a price. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The moral oppression had produced a physical craving for air, and he strode on, opening his lungs to the reverberating coldness of the night. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- He is slender, not tall, wiry, and looks as if he could endure any amount of physical exercise. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- A smile, a frown, a rebuke, a word of warning or encouragement, all involve some physical change. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The ailment is not physical. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Something which is called mind or consciousness is severed from the physical organs of activity. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- At last a day and night of peculiarly agonizing depression were succeeded by physical illness, I took perforce to my bed. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- He saw vividly with his spirit the grey, forward-stretching face of the negro woman, African and tense, abstracted in utter physical stress. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Names give abstract meanings a physical locus and body. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The boilers were fired by wood, as the economical transportation of coal was a physical impossibility. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Another night was coming on, for another night he was to be suspended in chain of physical life, over the bottomless pit of nothingness. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The discovery may long precede its adaptation in physical form, and both the discovery and adaptation may occur together. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The originality of his principles, his eloquence, and his great physical strength and beauty created a profound sensation. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Editor: Pasquale