mechanism

3 definitions found

mechanism - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Mechanism \Mech"an*ism\, n. [Cf. F. m['e]canisme, L. mechanisma.
     See Mechanic.]
     1. The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the
        parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or
        relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an
        effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a
        sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. The series of causal relations that operate to produce an
        effect in any system; as, the mechanism of a chemical
        reaction.
        [PJC]
  
     3. Mechanical operation or action.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He acknowledges nothing besides matter and motion;
              so that all must be performed either by mechanism or
              accident.                             --Bentley.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Kinematics) An ideal machine; a combination of movable
        bodies constituting a machine, but considered only with
        regard to relative movements.
        [1913 Webster]

mechanism - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  mechanism
      n 1: the atomic process that occurs during a chemical reaction;
           "he determined unique mechanisms for the photochemical
           reactions" [syn: mechanism, chemical mechanism]
      2: the technical aspects of doing something; "a mechanism of
         social control"; "mechanisms of communication"; "the
         mechanics of prose style" [syn: mechanism, mechanics]
      3: a natural object resembling a machine in structure or
         function; "the mechanism of the ear"; "the mechanism of
         infection"
      4: (philosophy) the philosophical theory that all phenomena can
         be explained in terms of physical or biological causes
      5: device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts
         that perform some function

mechanism - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  149 Moby Thesaurus words for "mechanism":
     Charlie McCarthy, Marxism, action, agency, agent, ancilla,
     animalism, apparatus, appliance, approach, arrangement, art,
     atomism, automatic switch, behaviorism, channel selector,
     check valve, clockworks, commonsense realism, contour follower,
     contrivance, control valve, convenience, craft, creature, device,
     dialectical materialism, drive, drive train, dummy, dupe,
     earthliness, electronic control, emergency control, empiricism,
     engine, enginery, epiphenomenalism, expedient, facility,
     finder switch, fixture, flowmanostat, gear, go-between,
     going between, handmaid, handmaiden, historical materialism,
     hylomorphism, hylotheism, hylozoism, implement, innards,
     instrument, instrumentality, interagent, intermediary,
     intermediate, intermediation, intermedium, internal selector,
     lever, machine, machinery, materialism, means, mechanical aid,
     mechanical device, mechanics, mediation, mediator, medium, method,
     midwife, minion, monism, motion, motive power, motor, movement,
     movements, natural realism, naturalism, new realism, organ,
     organization, pawn, physicalism, physicism, plaything,
     positive philosophy, positivism, power plant, power source,
     power train, pragmaticism, pragmatism, procedure, process, puppet,
     realism, recourse, rectifier, register regulator,
     representative realism, resort, safety control, safety fuse,
     safety stop, safety switch, safety valve, science, secularism,
     selector switch, sequence switch, servant, service, servo valve,
     servomechanism, skill, slave, stooge, structure, substantialism,
     system, technic, technical know-how, technical knowledge,
     technical skill, technics, technique, technology, temporality,
     thermoswitch, timer, tool, toy, utility, vehicle,
     voltage regulator, voltage stabilizer, watchworks, way, wheels,
     wheels within wheels, workings, works, worldliness