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Hydraulics definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HYDRAUL'ICS, n. The science of the motion and force of fluids, and of the construction of all kinds of instruments and machines by which the force of fluids is applied to practical purposes; a branch of hydrostatic.
Hydraulics is that branch of the science of hydrodynamics which treats of fluids considered as in motion.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: study of the mechanics of fluids [syn: fluid mechanics, hydraulics]

Merriam Webster's

noun plural but singular in construction Date: 1671 a branch of science that deals with practical applications (as the transmission of energy or the effects of flow) of liquid (as water) in motion

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n.pl. (usu. treated as sing.) the science of the conveyance of liquids through pipes etc. esp. as motive power.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hydraulics Hy*drau"lics, n. [Cf. F. hydraulique.] That branch of science, or of engineering, which treats of fluids in motion, especially of water, its action in rivers and canals, the works and machinery for conducting or raising it, its use as a prime mover, and the like. Note: As a science, hydraulics includes hydrodynamics, or the principles of mechanics applicable to the motion of water; as a branch of engineering, it consists in the practical application of the mechanics of fluids to the control and management of water with reference to the wants of man, including canals, waterworks, hydraulic machines, pumps, water wheels, etc. Some writers treat hydraulics and hydrostatics as subdivisions of hydrodynamics.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mechanics Me*chan"ics, n. [Cf. F. m['e]canique.] That science, or branch of applied mathematics, which treats of the action of forces on bodies. Note: That part of mechanics which considers the action of forces in producing rest or equilibrium is called statics; that which relates to such action in producing motion is called dynamics. The term mechanics includes the action of forces on all bodies, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous. It is sometimes, however, and formerly was often, used distinctively of solid bodies only: The mechanics of liquid bodies is called also hydrostatics, or hydrodynamics, according as the laws of rest or of motion are considered. The mechanics of gaseous bodies is called also pneumatics. The mechanics of fluids in motion, with special reference to the methods of obtaining from them useful results, constitutes hydraulics. Animal mechanics (Physiol.), that portion of physiology which has for its object the investigation of the laws of equilibrium and motion in the animal body. The most important mechanical principle is that of the lever, the bones forming the arms of the levers, the contractile muscles the power, the joints the fulcra or points of support, while the weight of the body or of the individual limbs constitutes the weight or resistance. Applied mechanics, the principles of abstract mechanics applied to human art; also, the practical application of the laws of matter and motion to the construction of machines and structures of all kinds.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Hydraulics is the study and use of systems that work using hydraulic pressure.

Moby Thesaurus

beverage, blood, drink, fluid, fluid extract, fluid mechanics, fluidics, hydrodynamics, hydrogeology, hydrography, hydrology, hydromechanics, hydrometry, hydrostatics, juice, latex, liquid, liquid extract, liquor, milk, sap, semiliquid, water, whey