mechanic

[ muh-kan-ik ]

/ məˈkæn ɪk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mechanic ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who repairs and maintains machinery, motors, etc.: an automobile mechanic.

a worker who is skilled in the use of tools, machines, equipment, etc.

Slang. a person skilled in the dishonest handling of cards, dice, or other objects used in games of chance.

Nearby words

mecca, mecca balsam, meccano, mech., mechan-, mechanic, mechanic's lien, mechanical, mechanical advantage, mechanical alternation, mechanical antidote

Origin of mechanic

1350–1400; Middle English: mechanical < Latin mēchanicus < Greek mēchanikós, equivalent to mēchan(ḗ) machine + -ikos -ic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mechanic

It plugs into the same port that a mechanic uses to check the computer, and it works on most cars made after 1996.
Testing Automatic Link, the FitBit for Your Car|Jamie Todd Rubin|July 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“I just had dreamed of becoming a mechanic one day,” she says.
Victims No More: Congo’s Badass Women Mechanics|Nina Strochlic|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A translator working with The Daily Beast said he brings his vehicle into the mechanic every two weeks to fix the suspension.
Victims No More: Congo’s Badass Women Mechanics|Nina Strochlic|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She hopes to become a mechanic or a driver for an NGO, many of which, she says, prefer to hire women over men.
Victims No More: Congo’s Badass Women Mechanics|Nina Strochlic|June 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But as the mechanic pointed out, the illegal drugs could just as easily have been weapons or explosives.
Who’s Minding the Planes? Airlines’ Overlooked Security Risk|William J. McGee|July 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The music that is written shows whether its composer was an artist or a mechanic in music.
Spirit and Music|H. Ernest Hunt
Have ordered one of crew who is a bit of a mechanic to work at the brass-bound chest till he gets it open.
The Mystery|Stewart Edward White and Samuel Hopkins Adams
If that mechanic had read the Greek tragedians he would have known that Nemesis must needs come soon.
Through East Anglia in a Motor Car|J. E. (James Edmund) Vincent
Not a mechanic or a laborer goes to work for a merchant, but he carries home a bottle of rum.
A Collection of Essays and Fugitiv Writings|Noah Webster
Her father had been a day laborer, her husband was a mechanic.
The Unpopular Review, Volume II Number 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for mechanic

mechanic

/ (mɪˈkænɪk) /

noun

a person skilled in maintaining or operating machinery, motors, etc

archaic a common labourer

Word Origin for mechanic

C14: from Latin mēchanicus, from Greek mēkhanikos, from mēkhanē machine

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mechanic (1 of 2)

mechanic

adj.

late 14c., "pertaining to or involving mechanical labor" (now usually mechanical), also "having to do with tools," from Latin mechanicus, from Greek mekhanikos "full of resources, inventive, ingenious," literally "mechanical, pertaining to machines," from mekhane (see machine (n.)). Meaning "of the nature of or pertaining to machines" is from 1620s.

Word Origin and History for mechanic (1 of 2)

mechanic

"manual laborer," late 14c., from Latin mechanicus, from Greek mekhanikos "an engineer," noun use of adjective meaning "full of resources, inventive, ingenious" (see mechanic (adj.)). Sense of "one who is employed in manual labor, a handicraft worker, an artisan" (chief sense through early 19c.) is attested from 1560s. Sense of "skilled workman who is concerned with making or repair of machinery" is from 1660s, but not the main sense until the rise of the automobile.

mechanic

noun

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Origin of mechanic

Examples from the Web for mechanic

British Dictionary definitions for mechanic

mechanic

noun

Word Origin for mechanic

Word Origin and History for mechanic (1 of 2)

mechanic

Word Origin and History for mechanic (1 of 2)

mechanic