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noun
1.
an assembly of moving parts performing a complete functional motion, often being part of a large machine; linkage.
2.
the agency or means by which an effect is produced or a purpose is accomplished.
3.
machinery or mechanical appliances in general.
4.
the structure or arrangement of parts of a machine or similar device, or of anything analogous.
5.
EXPANDthe mechanical part of something; any mechanical device: the mechanism of a clock.
6.
routine methods or procedures; mechanics: the mechanism of government.
7.
mechanical execution, as in painting or music; technique.
8.
9.
Philosophy.
a.
the view that all natural processes are explicable in terms of Newtonian mechanics.
b.
the view that all biological processes may be described in physicochemical terms.
10.
COLLAPSEPsychoanalysis. the habitual operation and interaction of psychological forces within an individual that assist in interpreting or dealing with the physical or psychological environment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Mechanism
is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Example Sentences
- In the case of malaria, however, that defense mechanism may backfire.
- He then was told to close the mechanism in a bid to seal the leak, but he was unable to reopen the latch.
- The researchers realised that they might be able to copy the eel's electricity-generation mechanism.
Collins
World English Dictionary
| mechanism (ˈmɛkəˌnɪzəm) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a system or structure of moving parts that performs some function, esp in a machine |
| 2. | something resembling a machine in the arrangement and working of its parts: the mechanism of the ear |
| 3. | any form of mechanical device or any part of such a device |
| 4. | a process or technique, esp of execution: the mechanism of novel writing |
| 5. | philosophy |
| a. the doctrine that human action can be explained in purely physical terms, whether mechanical or biological | |
| b. the explanation of phenomena in causal rather than teleological or essentialist terms | |
| c. the view that the task of science is to seek such explanations | |
| d. dynamism Compare vitalism strict determinism | |
| 6. | psychoanal |
| a. the ways in which psychological forces interact and operate | |
| b. a structure having an influence on the behaviour of a person, such as a defence mechanism | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary
mechanism mech·a·nism (měk'ə-nĭz'əm)
n.
A machine or mechanical appliance.
The arrangement of connected parts in a machine.
A system of parts that operate or interact like those of a machine.
An instrument or a process by which something is done or comes into being.
The involuntary and consistent response of an organism to a given stimulus.
A usually unconscious mental and emotional pattern that dominates behavior in a given situation or environment.
The sequence of steps in a chemical reaction.
The philosophical doctrine that all natural phenomena are explicable by material causes and mechanical principles.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Word Dynamo Rating For Mechanism
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