mechanical
[muh-kan-i-kuh l]
- having to do with machinery: a mechanical failure.
- being a machine; operated by machinery: a mechanical toy.
- caused by or derived from machinery: mechanical propulsion.
- using machine parts only.
- brought about by friction, abrasion, etc.: a mechanical bond between stones; mechanical erosion.
- pertaining to the design, use, understanding, etc., of tools and machinery: the mechanical trades; mechanical ability.
- acting or performed without spontaneity, spirit, individuality, etc.: a mechanical performance.
- habitual; routine; automatic: Practice that step until it becomes mechanical.
- belonging or pertaining to the subject matter of mechanics.
- pertaining to, or controlled or effected by, physical forces.
- (of a philosopher or philosophical theory) explaining phenomena as due to mechanical action or the material forces of the universe.
- subordinating the spiritual to the material; materialistic.
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- a mechanical object, part, device, etc.
- Printing. a sheet of stiff paper on which has been pasted artwork and type proofs for making a printing plate; paste-up.
- Obsolete. a skilled manual laborer, as a carpenter or other artisan.
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Origin of mechanical
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
regularlyExamples from the Web for mechanically
Contemporary Examples
“Keeping in contact with those people, and mechanically getting them to the trial, those are the hard parts,” Risner said.
What about allowing a school to manually or "mechanically" restrain students?
“First we targeted the tanks and the jeeps with IEDs,” he said mechanically, as if recalling a combat briefing.
This process can be mechanically assisted by deep belly massages and, yes, colonic irrigation.
It is simply unrealistic to say that judges can decide every case by mechanically applying a rigid algorithm.
Chief Justice John Roberts’s Ruling Restores Faith in the Court’s NeutralityLaurence Tribe
June 28, 2012
Historical Examples
Mechanically, you raise your hand to lift away your optimistic spectacles.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
Then, mechanically, his hand went to the lamp on the table back of the couch.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
Before she had repeated them mechanically, for not until now did she need them.
Rico and WiseliJohanna Spyri
Mechanically she took from the wardrobe a hooded cloak, put it about her, and left the room.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
They halted, mechanically and abruptly; every eye was turned to the beloved scene.
Leila, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
mechanical
- made, performed, or operated by or as if by a machine or machinerya mechanical process
- concerned with machines or machinery
- relating to or controlled or operated by physical forces
- of or concerned with mechanics
- (of a gesture, etc) automatic; lacking thought, feeling, etc
- philosophy accounting for phenomena by physically determining forces
- (of paper, such as newsprint) made from pulp that has been mechanically ground and contains impurities
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- printing another name for camera-ready copy
- archaic another word for mechanic (def. 2)
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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 mechanically
mechanical
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
mechanical
(mĭ-kăn′ĭ-kəl)- Operated or produced by a mechanism or machine.
- Relating to, produced by, or dominated by physical forces.
- Interpreting and explaining the phenomena of the universe by referring to causally determined material forces; mechanistic.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.