资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

   7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o? good
      things. [Colloq.] --Richardson.

   8. (Mech.)
      (a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or
          mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other
          machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an
          engine of twenty horse power.

   Note: The English unit of power used most commonly is the
         horse power. See {Horse power}.
      (b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical
          energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand
          power, etc.
      (c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as,
          the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a
          weight at the other end.

   Note: This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force,
         is improper and is becoming obsolete.
      (d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a
          motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power.

   Note: Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted
         to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly
         by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a
         power press.

   9. (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a
      number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and
      a cube is third power, of a number.

   10. (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the
       faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as,
       the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing,
       fearing, hoping, etc. --I. Watts.

             The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
             my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a
             received belief.                     --Shak.

   11. (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any
       optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and
       usually in the microscope, the number of times it
       multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an
       object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it
       multiplies the apparent surface.

   12. (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an
       interest vested either in himself or in another person;
       ownership by appointment. --Wharton.

   13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the
       business was referred to a committee with power.

   Note: Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the
         winds and waves, electricity and magnetism,
         gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings;
         and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate
         physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.

   {Mechanical powers}. See under {Mechanical}.

   {Power loom}, or {Power press}. See Def. 8
       (d), note.

   {Power of attorney}. See under {Attorney}.

   {Power of a point} (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the
      result of substituting the co["o]rdinates of any point in
      that expression which being put equal to zero forms the
      equation of the curve; as, x^{2} + y^{2} - 100 is the
      power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x^{2} +
      y^{2} - 100 = 0.

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.