# mechanic

Pronunciation: say "muh-KA-nik" /mɪˈkænɪk/

## Noun

1. A person who builds or repairs machinery; especially one who services and repairs the mechanical parts of motor vehicles or aircraft.
   - Simple: A person who fixes and takes care of machines, especially cars and engines.
   - _The mechanic replaced the worn timing belt before it could snap._
   - _Aircraft mechanics inspect every engine component according to a strict schedule._
2. A device, method, or means by which something is done or made to work; a function.
   - Simple: A way of doing something, or the part that makes something work.
   - _The committee explained the mechanic by which complaints are reviewed._
   - _Each pulley adds another mechanic for lifting the heavy load._
3. A rule, function, or implementation that dictates how a game is played; a ludeme or feature.
   - Simple: A rule or feature in a game that controls how you play.
   - _The deck-building mechanic rewards players who plan several turns ahead._
   - _Combat mechanics in the sequel reward timing over button-mashing._
4. A hired killer; a person paid to carry out a murder, especially on behalf of a criminal organization. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person who is paid to kill someone, in criminal slang.
   - _The boss sent his most reliable mechanic to deal with the informant._
   - _Rumor had it that two mechanics were flown in for the job._
5. A cheat who secretly manipulates the cards or dice to control the outcome of a game.
   - Simple: A person who cheats at card or dice games by secretly controlling them.
   - _Every gambler at the table feared the quiet mechanic in the corner._
   - _Two mechanics worked the back rooms, fleecing tourists with marked cards._
6. A manual worker, such as a laborer or skilled artisan who earns a living working with their hands.
   - Simple: A person who works with their hands, such as a craftsman or laborer.
   - _The guild admitted only mechanics who had served a full apprenticeship._
   - _A respected mechanic, he was known for the quality of his ironwork._

## Adjective

7. Concerned with machines and mechanics, or with the physical laws that govern how bodies move. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Having to do with machines, or with how things move in physics.
   - _Newton's work laid out the mechanic laws of motion with great precision._
   - _Early philosophers treated the mechanic forces of nature as a single system._
8. Mechanical; precise but lifeless, as though performed by a machine rather than a person. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Done in an exact but lifeless way, as if by a machine.
   - _The clerk stamped each form with mechanic indifference._
   - _His mechanic delivery drained the poem of all its feeling._
9. Relating to manual artisans or their class; hence coarse, common, vulgar, or base. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Coarse or low, like the rough manners once linked to common workers.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English mekanyk, from Old French mecanique, from Latin mechanicus ("belonging to machines or mechanics, inventive"), from Ancient Greek mēkhanikós ("pertaining to machines, ingenious, inventive"), from mēkhanḗ ("a machine, contrivance"), related to machine.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mechanic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).