mechanical

American  

[muh-kan-i-kuhl] / məˈkæn ɪ kəl /

adjective

1. having to do with machinery.

   a mechanical failure.

2. being a machine; operated by machinery.

   a mechanical toy.

3. caused by or derived from machinery.

   mechanical propulsion.

4. using machine parts only.

5. brought about by friction, abrasion, etc..

   a mechanical bond between stones; mechanical erosion.

6. pertaining to the design, use, understanding, etc., of tools and machinery.

   the mechanical trades; mechanical ability.

7. acting or performed without spontaneity, spirit, individuality, etc..

   a mechanical performance.

8. habitual; routine; automatic.

   Practice that step until it becomes mechanical.

9. belonging or pertaining to the subject matter of mechanics.

10. pertaining to, or controlled or effected by, physical forces.

11. (of a philosopher or philosophical theory) explaining phenomena as due to mechanical action or the material forces of the universe.

12. subordinating the spiritual to the material; materialistic.

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noun

1. a mechanical object, part, device, etc.

2. Printing. a sheet of stiff paper on which has been pasted artwork and type proofs for making a printing plate; paste-up.

3. Obsolete. a skilled manual laborer, as a carpenter or other artisan.

mechanical British  

/ mɪˈkænɪkəl /

adjective

1. made, performed, or operated by or as if by a machine or machinery

   a mechanical process

2. concerned with machines or machinery

3. relating to or controlled or operated by physical forces

4. of or concerned with mechanics

5. (of a gesture, etc) automatic; lacking thought, feeling, etc

6. philosophy accounting for phenomena by physically determining forces

7. (of paper, such as newsprint) made from pulp that has been mechanically ground and contains impurities

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noun

1. printing another name for camera-ready copy

2. archaic another word for mechanic

Other Word Forms

• mechanicalism
  noun
• mechanicality
  noun
• mechanically
  adverb
• mechanicalness
  noun
• nonmechanical
  adjective
• nonmechanically
  adverb
• nonmechanicalness
  noun
• quasi-mechanical
  adjective
• quasi-mechanically
  adverb
• semimechanical
  adjective
• supermechanical
  adjective
• supermechanically
  adverb
• unmechanical
  adjective
• unmechanically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of mechanical

1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent to mechanic mechanical + -al ¹; see mechanic

Explanation

Use the adjective mechanical to describe something related to machinery or tools. If your car breaks down on the same day that your watch stops, you've got a lot of mechanical problems. You’ll most often hear mechanical used to describe something involving a machine. A mechanical problem at work might mean the copier has broken down again. Mechanical can also refer to physical forces, called mechanics having to do with how things move, like the mechanical elegance of a pendulum. We also use mechanical for human things that are so tedious, repetitive or automatic that they feel like they're done by machines and not people.

Example Sentences

If no more survivors are found, mechanical diggers and other heavy equipment will be brought in to clear debris and recover bodies, she said, but gave no timeline.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

I’m a professor of mechanical engineering, and this became apparent to me about 20 years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026

According to the researchers, the result acts as a direct quantum mechanical signature of angular momentum conservation inside solids.

From Science Daily • May 24, 2026

By 2014, he had been fitted with an LVAD, a mechanical device that pumps blood around the body when the heart is too weak to do so.

From BBC • May 21, 2026

When I first came to Przemyśl, this place made mechanical toys.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Related Words

• automated
• automatic