Pertaining to or exhibiting constructive power; of or pertaining to mechanism or machinery; also, dependent upon the use of mechanism; of the nature or character of a machine or machinery: as, mechanical inventions or contrivances; to do something by mechanical means.Machine-like; acting or actuated by or as if by machinery, or by fixed routine; lacking spontaneity, spirit, individuality, etc.; as applied to actions, automatic, instinctive, unconscious, etc.: as, the mechanical action of the heart; a mechanical musician.Having the characteristics of that which is produced by machinery or is artificially contrived; artificial; not spontaneous; not genuine or of natural growth; lacking life or spirit; humdrum.Of or pertaining to the material forces of nature acting on inanimate bodies or masses; specifically, pertaining to the principles or laws of mechanics: as, the mechanical effects of frost; the mechanical powers.Effected by material force or forces; consisting in the play of material forces: as, mechanical pressure.Exalting the material forces of the universe above the spiritual; subordinating the spiritual to the material; materialistic: as, the mechanical philosophy (specifically, atomism); a mechanical view of life.Belonging to or characteristic of mechanics or artisans, or their class; mechanic-like; having the character or status of an artisan; hence (chiefly in old writings), mean, low, or vulgar.Engaged in operating machines or machinery, or in superintending their operation: as, a mechanical engineer.Exhibiting or indicating skill in contrivance, invention, or the use of tools and machines: as, a mechanical genius; a mechanical turn of mind.Effected or controlled by physical forces that are not chemical: as, a mechanical mixture (that is, one in which the several ingredients still retain their identity, and are held together by no special force whether of cohesion or chemical attraction); mechanical decomposition.—n. A mechanic.n. plural The trade-name for common articles, such as overshoes, of vulcanized india-rubber, made by molding, and often of old reworked material.
