[mek-uh-niz-uh
m] 
| 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. | the 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. | the theory that everything in the universe is produced by matter in motion; materialism. Compare dynamism (def. 1), vitalism (def. 1). |
| 9. | Philosophy.
|
| 10. | Psychoanalysis. the habitual operation and interaction of psychological forces within an individual that assist in interpreting or dealing with the physical or psychological environment. |
| mech·a·nism (měk'ə-nĭz'əm) n.
[New Latin mēchanismus, from Late Latin mēchanisma, from Greek mēkhanē, machine; see mechanic.] |
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.
