Definition: mechanical

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

mechanical
     adj 1: using (or as if using) mechanisms or tools or devices; "a
            mechanical process"; "his smile was very mechanical";
            "a mechanical toy" [ant: nonmechanical]
     2: relating to or concerned with machinery or tools;
        "mechanical arts"; "mechanical design"; "mechanical
        skills" [syn: mechanically skillful]
     3: relating to or governed by or in accordance with mechanics;
        "a belief that the universe is a mechanical contrivance";
        "the mechanical pressure of a strong wind"
     4: lacking thought or feeling

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mechanical \Me*chan"ic*al\, a. [From Mechanic, a.]
   1. Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with,
      mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the
      quantitative relations of force and matter, as
      distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as,
      mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical
      deposits.

   2. Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools;
      made or formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical
      precision; mechanical products.

            We have also divers mechanical arts.  --Bacon.

   3. Done as if by a machine; uninfluenced by will or emotion;
      proceeding automatically, or by habit, without special
      intention or reflection; as, mechanical singing;
      mechanical verses; mechanical service.

   4. Made and operated by interaction of forces without a
      directing intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.

   5. Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate;
      empirical. See the 2d Note under Geometric.

   Mechanical effect, effective power; useful work exerted, as
      by a machine, in a definite time.

   Mechanical engineering. See the Note under Engineering.
      

   Mechanical maneuvers (Mil.), the application of mechanical
      appliances to the mounting, dismounting, and moving of
      artillery. --Farrow.

   Mechanical philosophy, the principles of mechanics applied
      to the inverstigation of physical phenomena.

   Mechanical powers, certain simple instruments, such as the
      lever and its modifications (the wheel and axle and the
      pulley), the inclined plane with its modifications (the
      screw and the wedge), which convert a small force acting
      through a great space into a great force acting through a
      small space, or vice versa, and are used separately or in
      combination.

   Mechanical solution (Math.), a solution of a problem by any
      art or contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means
      of the ruler and compasses, or other instruments.
Mechanical \Me*chan"ic*al\, n.
   A mechanic. [Obs.] --Shak.