资料来源 : 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.