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Mechanics definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MECHAN'ICS, n. That science which treats of the doctrines of motion. It investigates the forces by which bodies are kept either in equilibrium or in motion, and is accordingly divided into statics and dynamics.
A mathematical science which shows the effects of powers or moving forces, so far as they are applied to engines, and demonstrates the laws of motion.
It is a well known truth in mechanics, that the actual and theoretical powers of a machine will never coincide.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in a frame of reference
2: the technical aspects of doing something; "a mechanism of social control"; "mechanisms of communication"; "the mechanics of prose style" [syn: mechanism, mechanics]

Merriam Webster's

noun plural but singular or plural in construction Date: 1612 1. a branch of physical science that deals with energy and forces and their effect on bodies 2. the practical application of mechanics to the design, construction, or operation of machines or tools 3. mechanical or functional details or procedure <the mechanics of the brain>

Britannica Concise

Science of the action of forces on material bodies. It forms a central part of all physical science and engineering. Beginning with Newton's laws of motion in the 17th cent., the theory has since been modified and expanded by the theories of quantum mechanics and relativity. Newton's theory of mechanics, known as classical mechanics, accurately represented the effects of forces under all conditions known in his time. It can be divided into statics, the study of equilibrium, and dynamics, the study of motion caused by forces. Though classical mechanics fails on the scale of atoms and molecules, it remains the framework for much of modern science and technology.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n.pl. (usu. treated as sing.) 1 the branch of applied mathematics dealing with motion and tendencies to motion. 2 the science of machinery. 3 the method of construction or routine operation of a thing.

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.

Moby Thesaurus

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