mechanical

UK: /mɪˈkænɪk^əl/ US: /məˈkænɪkəl/ ,(mə kan′i kəl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

me•chan•i•cal /məˈkænɪkəl/   adj. 

1. Mechanical Engineering of or relating to machinery or tools:
   He has no mechanical skills.
2. Mechanical Engineering operated or produced by machinery:
   a mechanical snow blower.
3. lacking freshness;
   dull or done by habit:
   a mechanical job that required no thinking.
4. Mechanics of or relating to the study of mechanics.

me•chan•i•cal•ly, adv. See -mech-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

me•chan•i•cal  (mə kan′i kəl), adj. 

1. Mechanical Engineering having to do with machinery:
   a mechanical failure.
2. Mechanical Engineering being a machine;
   operated by machinery:
   a mechanical toy.
3. Mechanical Engineering caused by or derived from machinery:
   mechanical propulsion.
4. Mechanical Engineering using machine parts only.
5. brought about by friction, abrasion, etc.:
   a mechanical bond between stones; mechanical erosion.
6. Mechanical Engineering pertaining to the design, use, understanding, etc., of tools and machinery:
   the mechanical trades; mechanical ability.
7. acting or performed without spontaneity, spirit, individuality, etc.:
   a mechanical performance.
8. habitual;
   routine;
   automatic:
   Practice that step until it becomes mechanical.
9. Mechanics belonging or pertaining to the subject matter of mechanics.
10. Mechanics pertaining to, or controlled or effected by, physical forces.
11. Philosophy (of a philosopher or philosophical theory) explaining phenomena as due to mechanical action or the material forces of the universe.
12. subordinating the spiritual to the material;
    materialistic.

n. 

13. a mechanical object, part, device, etc.
14. Printing a sheet of stiff paper on which has been pasted artwork and type proofs for making a printing plate;
    paste-up.
15. [Obs.] a skilled manual laborer, as a carpenter or other artisan.

• 1375–1425; late Middle English, equivalent. to mechanic mechanical + -al¹; see mechanic

me•chan′i•cal•ly, adv. 
me•chan′i•cal•ness, me•chan′i•cal′i•ty, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mechanical / mɪˈkænɪk^əl/ adjective

1. made, performed, or operated by or as if by a machine or machinery: a mechanical process
2. concerned with machines or machinery
3. relating to or controlled or operated by physical forces
4. of or concerned with mechanics
5. (of a gesture, etc) automatic; lacking thought, feeling, etc
6. accounting for phenomena by physically determining forces

meˈchanicalism noun

meˈchanically adverb

meˈchanicalness noun