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4 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 : [ gcide ]
Power \Pow"er\, n. [OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F.
pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to
be able, to have power. See Possible, Potent, and cf.
Posse comitatus.]
1. Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the
faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for
action or performance; capability of producing an effect,
whether physical or moral: potency; might; as, a man of
great power; the power of capillary attraction; money
gives power. ``One next himself in power, and next in
crime.'' --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength,
force, or energy in action; as, the power of steam in
moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in
producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. ``The power
of fancy.'' --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted
upon; susceptibility; -- called also passive power; as,
great power of endurance.
[1913 Webster]
Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is
active power or capacity; capacity is passive power.
--Sir W.
Hamilton.
[1913 Webster]
4. The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the
exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion;
sway; command; government.
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Power is no blessing in itself but when it is
employed to protect the innocent. --Swift.
[1913 Webster]
5. The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual
invested with authority; an institution, or government,
which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe;
hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity.
``The powers of darkness.'' --Milton.
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And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
--Matt. xxiv.
29.
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6. A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host.
--Spenser.
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Never such a power . . .
Was levied in the body of a land. --Shak.
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7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o? good
things. [Colloq.] --Richardson.
[1913 Webster]
8. (Mech.)
(a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or
mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other
machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an
engine of twenty horse power.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The English unit of power used most commonly is the
horse power. See Horse power.
[1913 Webster]
(b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical
energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand
power, etc.
(c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as,
the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a
weight at the other end.
[1913 Webster]
Note: This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force,
is improper and is becoming obsolete.
[1913 Webster]
(d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a
motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted
to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly
by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a
power press.
[1913 Webster]
9. (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a
number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and
a cube is third power, of a number.
[1913 Webster]
10. (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the
faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as,
the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing,
fearing, hoping, etc. --I. Watts.
[1913 Webster]
The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a
received belief. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
11. (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any
optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and
usually in the microscope, the number of times it
multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an
object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it
multiplies the apparent surface.
[1913 Webster]
12. (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an
interest vested either in himself or in another person;
ownership by appointment. --Wharton.
[1913 Webster]
13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the
business was referred to a committee with power.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the
winds and waves, electricity and magnetism,
gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings;
and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate
physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.
[1913 Webster]
Mechanical powers. See under Mechanical.
Power loom, or Power press. See Def. 8
(d), note.
Power of attorney. See under Attorney.
Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the
result of substituting the co["o]rdinates of any point in
that expression which being put equal to zero forms the
equation of the curve; as, x^{2 + y^{2} - 100 is the
power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x^{2 +
y^{2 - 100 = 0.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 : [ gcide ]
Mechanical \Me*chan"ic*al\, a. [From Mechanic, a.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with,
mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the
quantitative relations of force and matter on a
macroscopic scale, as distinguished from mental,
vital, chemical, electrical, electronic, atomic
etc.; as, mechanical principles; a mechanical theory;
especially, using only the interactions of solid parts
against each other; as mechanical brakes, in contrast to
hydraulic brakes.
[1913 Webster +PJC]
2. Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools;
made or formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical
precision; mechanical products.
[1913 Webster]
We have also divers mechanical arts. --Bacon.
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3. Done as if by a machine; uninfluenced by will or emotion;
proceeding automatically, or by habit, without special
intention or reflection; as, mechanical singing;
mechanical verses; mechanical service.
[1913 Webster]
4. Made and operated by interaction of forces without a
directing intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.
[1913 Webster]
5. Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate;
empirical. See the 2d Note under Geometric.
[1913 Webster]
Mechanical effect, effective power; useful work exerted, as
by a machine, in a definite time.
Mechanical engineering. See the Note under Engineering.
Mechanical maneuvers (Mil.), the application of mechanical
appliances to the mounting, dismounting, and moving of
artillery. --Farrow.
Mechanical philosophy, the principles of mechanics applied
to the investigation of physical phenomena.
Mechanical powers, certain simple instruments, such as the
lever and its modifications (the wheel and axle and the
pulley), the inclined plane with its modifications (the
screw and the wedge), which convert a small force acting
through a great space into a great force acting through a
small space, or vice versa, and are used separately or in
combination.
Mechanical solution (Math.), a solution of a problem by any
art or contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means
of the ruler and compasses, or other instruments.
[1913 Webster]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) : [ web1913 ]
7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o? good
things. [Colloq.] --Richardson.
8. (Mech.)
(a) The rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or
mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other
machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, an
engine of twenty horse power.
Note: The English unit of power used most commonly is the
horse power. See Horse power.
(b) A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical
energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand
power, etc.
(c) Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as,
the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a
weight at the other end.
Note: This use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force,
is improper and is becoming obsolete.
(d) A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a
motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power.
Note: Power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted
to be driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly
by the hand or foot; as, a power lathe; a power loom; a
power press.
9. (Math.) The product arising from the multiplication of a
number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and
a cube is third power, of a number.
10. (Metaph.) Mental or moral ability to act; one of the
faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as,
the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing,
fearing, hoping, etc. --I. Watts.
The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of
my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a
received belief. --Shak.
11. (Optics) The degree to which a lens, mirror, or any
optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and
usually in the microscope, the number of times it
multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an
object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it
multiplies the apparent surface.
12. (Law) An authority enabling a person to dispose of an
interest vested either in himself or in another person;
ownership by appointment. --Wharton.
13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the
business was referred to a committee with power.
Note: Power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the
winds and waves, electricity and magnetism,
gravitation, etc., or of animal and intelligent beings;
and when predicated of these beings, it may indicate
physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity.
Mechanical powers. See under Mechanical.
Power loom, or Power press. See Def. 8
(d), note.
Power of attorney. See under Attorney.
Power of a point (relative to a given curve) (Geom.), the
result of substituting the co["o]rdinates of any point in
that expression which being put equal to zero forms the
equation of the curve; as, x^{2 + y^{2} - 100 is the
power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x^{2 +
y^{2 - 100 = 0.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) : [ web1913 ]
Mechanical \Me*chan"ic*al\, a. [From Mechanic, a.]
1. Pertaining to, governed by, or in accordance with,
mechanics, or the laws of motion; pertaining to the
quantitative relations of force and matter, as
distinguished from mental, vital, chemical, etc.; as,
mechanical principles; a mechanical theory; mechanical
deposits.
2. Of or pertaining to a machine or to machinery or tools;
made or formed by a machine or with tools; as, mechanical
precision; mechanical products.
We have also divers mechanical arts. --Bacon.
3. Done as if by a machine; uninfluenced by will or emotion;
proceeding automatically, or by habit, without special
intention or reflection; as, mechanical singing;
mechanical verses; mechanical service.
4. Made and operated by interaction of forces without a
directing intelligence; as, a mechanical universe.
5. Obtained by trial, by measurements, etc.; approximate;
empirical. See the 2d Note under Geometric.
Mechanical effect, effective power; useful work exerted, as
by a machine, in a definite time.
Mechanical engineering. See the Note under Engineering.
Mechanical maneuvers (Mil.), the application of mechanical
appliances to the mounting, dismounting, and moving of
artillery. --Farrow.
Mechanical philosophy, the principles of mechanics applied
to the inverstigation of physical phenomena.
Mechanical powers, certain simple instruments, such as the
lever and its modifications (the wheel and axle and the
pulley), the inclined plane with its modifications (the
screw and the wedge), which convert a small force acting
through a great space into a great force acting through a
small space, or vice versa, and are used separately or in
combination.
Mechanical solution (Math.), a solution of a problem by any
art or contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means
of the ruler and compasses, or other instruments.
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