# mechanical

Pronunciation: say "muh-KAN-i-kuhl" US /məˈkænəkəl/, UK /məˈkænɪkəl/

## Adjective

1. Operating as a machine, made of moving parts that work together to perform a task.
   - Simple: Built as a machine, with parts that move to do a job.
   - _A mechanical watch keeps time using a wound spring rather than electronics._
   - _The factory still runs several mechanical looms built over a century ago._
2. Relating to the design and construction of machines.
   - Simple: Having to do with designing and building machines.
   - _The company hired a firm to handle the mechanical systems of the new building._
   - _He earned a degree in mechanical engineering._
3. Relating to the branch of physics concerned with forces acting on matter and their effects on motion.
   - Simple: Having to do with the study of forces and how things move.
   - _The engineer calculated the mechanical stresses on the beam._
   - _Mechanical energy is the sum of an object's kinetic and potential energy._
4. Carried out by a machine rather than by hand.
   - Simple: Made or done by a machine instead of by hand.
   - _The vineyard switched to mechanical picking to cut labor costs._
   - _Mechanical ventilation pushes fresh air through the entire mine._
5. Performed automatically and without thought or feeling, as if by a machine.
   - Simple: Done without thought or feeling, like a machine.
   - _The cashier's mechanical smile never reached her eyes._
   - _After weeks of rehearsal, the dance had become mechanical and joyless._
6. Behaving in a lifeless, mindless way, as though one were a machine.
   - Simple: Behaving in a cold, lifeless way, like a machine.
   - _Years on the assembly line had left him mechanical and detached._
   - _The soldiers marched in mechanical silence, their faces blank._
7. Skilled at working with or repairing machines. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Good at fixing or working with machines.
   - _He's the most mechanical person in the family, always tinkering with cars._
   - _She proved surprisingly mechanical, rebuilding the carburetor in an afternoon._

## Noun

8. An engineer who specializes in the design and construction of machinery.
   - Simple: A person trained to design and build machines.
   - _The plant employs three mechanicals to maintain the turbines._
   - _Ask a mechanical to review the gearbox specifications._
9. A robot or artificial creature, especially one appearing in science fiction.
   - Simple: A robot or machine that looks or acts like a living creature.
   - _The crew's mechanical malfunctioned just as the airlock opened._
   - _Rebel mechanicals rose against their human creators in the final chapter._
10. A failure of equipment, especially a bicycle, occurring during a race or ride.
   - Simple: A breakdown of a bike or other gear during a race or ride.
   - _The favorite lost the stage after a mechanical on the final climb._
   - _Two riders abandoned the race following mechanicals in the feed zone._
11. A hand-assembled layout of artwork and text prepared camera-ready for photographic reproduction.
   - Simple: A finished page layout of art and text, ready to be photographed for printing.
   - _Before digital tools, an artist pasted every element onto the mechanical by hand._
   - _The agency archived old mechanicals from past advertising campaigns._
12. An organ stop controlled by hand or foot during performance, rather than set up beforehand.
   - Simple: An organ stop you turn on with a hand or foot control while playing.
   - _He engaged a mechanical mid-phrase to brighten the final chord._
   - _The instrument's mechanicals let the player change registration on the fly._
13. A manual laborer or workman, especially of the humble, unrefined sort like Shakespeare's rude mechanicals.
   - Simple: A worker who does jobs with the hands, like a craftsman or laborer.
   - _The mechanicals gathered in the woods to rehearse their amateur drama._
   - _He was a humble mechanical, more at ease with a hammer than a quill._

## Noun

14. A machine built to perform work formerly done by animals or human hands. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A machine that does work once done by animals or by hand.
   - _The estate's new mechanical threshed grain that once took a dozen laborers._
   - _Mill owners invested in mechanicals to replace their draft horses._

## Adjective

15. Typical of a manual laborer; coarse, low, or vulgar in manner. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Like a common worker, rough or low in manners.
   - _She found his mechanical habits unbecoming of polite company._
   - _They mocked the apprentice for his mechanical tastes and rough talk._

## Origin

From Middle English mechanical (also mechanicalle, mechanycalle), equivalent to mechanic + -al.

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