| 释义 |
mechanic, a. and n.|mɪˈkænɪk|
[ad. L. mēchanic-us, a. Gr. µηχανικός (adj. and n.), f. µηχανή machine. Cf. F. mécanique (from 14th c.: perh. the source in early instances), Pr. mechanic, Sp. mecánico, Pg. mechanico; also OE. mechanisc, Ger., Du. mechanisch, Sw., Da. mekanisk.
The adj. was introduced much later than mechanical, which in early uses is somewhat closer to the sense of the Latin word.]
A. adj.
1. a. Pertaining to or involving manual labour or skill. Now rare: cf. mechanical 1 b.
1549Compl. Scotl. Prol. 8 To leyrne sciens, craftis, ande mecanyke occupations. 1622Peacham Compl. Gent. xiii. (1634) 129 Painting in Oyle..is..of more esteeme then working in water colours; but then it is more mechanique, and will robbe you of over much time from your more excellent studies. a1631Donne 80 Serm. (1640) xxxvii. 364 When we see any man doe any work well, that belongs to the hand, to write, to carve, to play, to doe any mechanique office well. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 187 The persons working in the Mechanick-Arts. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 175/2 If a man applies himself to servile or mechanic employments. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. ii. 132 He was a considerable proficient in music, painting, and several mechanic arts.
†b. Pertaining to mechanical arts; industrial.
1721Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 7 It is a hard Coal for Mechanick Uses.
2. Of persons: Having a manual occupation; working at a trade. Now blended with the attributive use of the n.
1549Compl. Scot. ii. 25 Ande mecanyc lauberaris sal reproche gentil men. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iv. Menedemus i, Though noble by descent, Mechanick by profession and indigent. 1678R. Barclay Apol. Quakers x. xxiii. 316 Most..are Labouring and Mechanick men. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. i, The Labour and Sufferings of the mechanic Part of Mankind. 1837H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 48 Are the mechanic and farming classes satisfied? 1845R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. iii. (ed. 2) 56 If mechanic life be miserable, if the crowded population which it collects is degraded.
†3. Belonging to or characteristic of the ‘lower orders’; vulgar, low, base. Obs.
1599Marston Sco. Villanie, In Lect. prorsus indignos, Each mechanick slaue, Each dunghill pesant. 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. iv. 32 To stand On more Mechanicke Compliment. 1642Chas. I Declar. Wks. 1662 II. 170 Suffering Mechanick, Ignorant fellows to preach and expound the Scripture. 1676G. Etherege Man of Mode iv. i, Writing, Madam's a Mechanick part of Witt! A Gentleman should never go beyond a Song or a Billét. 1705Vanbrugh Confed. i. iii, A woman must indeed be of a mechanic mould, who is either troubled or pleased with anything her husband can do for her. 1762Lloyd Actor 40 The Play'r's profession (though I hate the phrase, 'Tis so mechanic in these modern days).
4. a. Of the nature of, or pertaining to, a machine or machines; also, worked by machinery. Now poet. or rhetorical: cf. mechanical a. 3.
1625N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. iv. (1635) 74 A Ballance, and other such mechanicke instruments. 1696Mandey & Moxon (title) Mechanick-powers: or, the Mistery of Nature and Art unvail'd, shewing what great things may be performed by Mechanick Engines, etc. 1788Gentl. Mag. LVIII. i. 77/1 A man of war hove 3 inches by mechanic force. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. III. xxxvii. heading, Fine mechanic wings that would not fly.
b. mechanic powers or † mechanic faculties: = mechanical powers (see mechanical a. 3 c). ? Obs.
1648Bp. Wilkins Math. Magick i. xii, Concerning the force of the Mechanick faculties, particularly the Ballance and Leaver. 1701Moxon Math. Dict., Mechanick Powers, or Mechanick Faculties are Six. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 11 The pulley is the third mechanic power. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Literature Wks. (Bohn) II. 112 They [sc. Englishmen] are incapable of an inutility, and respect the five mechanic powers even in their song.
5. a. Worked or working like a machine; having a machine-like action or motion; acting mechanically. Somewhat arch.; cf. mechanical a. 4.
1697Congreve Mourning Bride ii. viii, O impotence of sight! mechanic sense,..Not seeing of election but necessity. 1762Lloyd Actor 2 Acting,..its perfection draws From no observance of mechanic laws. 1850Tennyson In Mem. v, The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. 1863Kinglake Crimea (1876) I. iv. 68 That branch of industry which seeks to give uniformity and mechanic action to bodies of men.
†b. Involuntary, automatic. Obs.
1723Bolingbroke in Pope's Pr. Wks. (1741) II. 26 Good digestions, serene weather, and some other mechanic springs. 1741Betterton Eng. Stage vi. 102 Nature by a sort of mechanic Motion throws the Hands out as Guards to the Eyes on such an Occasion.
6. Of agencies, forces, principles: Such as belong to the subject-matter of mechanics; = mechanical a. 5. Now rare or Obs.
1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 3 So great is the mechanick power which Providence has immur'd within these living walls of Jet [viz. a flea]. 1683T. Hoy Agathocles 18 The Mechanique Power, by which they move, It self is guided by some Hand above. 1712H. More's Antid. Ath. ii. i. Schol. 153, I..perceiv'd the motion of the World to be no ways mechanick. 1844Disraeli Coningsby ii. i, The supreme control obtained by man over mechanic power.
†7. Of theories and their advocates; = mechanical a. 6. Obs.
1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 28 These mechanick Theists have here quite outstripped and outdone the Atomick Atheists. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 152 On the principles of this mechanick philosophy, our institutions can never be embodied, if I may use the expression, in persons.
†8. Of persons and their aptitudes: Skilled in mechanical contrivance. Obs.
1713Steele Guardian No. 1 ⁋3, I am..convinced of the importance of mechanick heads. 1714Gay Trivia i. 272 A new Machine Mechanick Fancy wrought. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. x. 411 The mechanic dexterity of the Europeans.
B. n. (See also mechanics.)
†1.
a. Manual labour or operation. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 142 Of hem that ben Artificier, Whiche usen craftes and mestiers, Whos Art is cleped Mechanique. 1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. viii. §3 He..may superinduce upon some metall the Nature and forme of Gold by such Mechanique as longeth to the production of the Natures afore rehearsed.
†b. A mechanical art. Obs.
1604R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Mechanick, handycraft. 1655in Hartlib Ref. Commw. Bees 33 There is not any one Mechanick, which hath its Basis on Phylosophy, in which there are not many errors, into which an Artist, that hath been long versed in the Practique, may hap to fall. 1656? J. Sergeant tr. T. White's Peripat. Inst. 387 Consider the honour of..the Mechanicks, 't is the work that's most proper to mankind. 1691Ray Creation ii. (1704) 245 Besides the known uses [of plants].. in Building, in Dying, in all Mechanicks, there may be as many more not yet discover'd.
†c. Mechanism, mechanical structure. Obs.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. x. §5 The fault being in the very frame and Mechanicke of the parts.
2. a. One who is employed in a manual occupation; a handicraftsman.
mechanics' institute or mechanics' institution: the designation adopted by a class of societies, established (in 1823 and subsequently) in London and most other towns of England to afford their members facilities for self-education by classes and lectures. In many of these institutions, only a small proportion of the members belonged to the ‘mechanic’ or artisan class. See also institute n.1 4.
1562A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 174 Merchandis to trafique and travell to and fro, Mechanikis wirk. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 341 Houses or yards, where Carpenters or such Mechanicks work. 1638Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 163 These people are most of them mechanicks and husbandmen. 1713Swift, etc. Frenzy of J. Dennis Wks. 1755 III. i. 142 My friend an apothecary! a base mechanic! 1777Fletcher Bible Calvinism Wks. 1795 IV. 244 An industrious sober mechanic can hardly pay for a mean lodging in a garret. 1825Hone Every-day Bk. I. 1549 On the 2d of December, 1823, the London Mechanics' Institution was formed. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 418 An English mechanic,..instead of slaving like a native of Bengal for a piece of copper, exacted a shilling a day. 1891J. Leckie Life & Relig. 71 He [St. Paul] was an itinerant mechanic.
b. Used contemptuously. Now rare.
1607Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 83 Do not bid me..capitulate Againe, with Romes Mechanickes. 1768Horne Disc. ix. Wks. 1818 II. 171 The meanest mechanic takes place of the nobles and kings of the earth, if he were a better Christian than they were. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxiii, This fellow is a wretched mechanic. 1842Tennyson Walking to Mail 67 Lest..his nice eyes Should see the raw mechanic's bloody thumbs Sweat on his blazon'd chairs.
†c. A low or vulgar fellow. Obs.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Mechanic,..a mean,..contemptible Fellow. 1733Fielding Intrig. Chambermaid ii. ix, I am glad you have taught me at what distance to keep such mechanics for the future.
d. One who cheats at gambling games, spec. cards; a card-sharp. U.S. and Austral. slang.
1909in Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1944D. Runyon in Collier's 12 Feb. 12/4 What I must know is are you a mechanic at gin? 1949J. Scarne On Cards i. 1 To the average card player the man who makes his living by cheating at cards is a sharper, sharp or shark, but to card hustlers and house men he is known as a mechanic. Ibid. ii. 10 Some mechanics keep two fingers curled around the long edge of the deck and two around the short upper edge. 1953Baker Australia Speaks v. 121 Mechanic, a person who cheats at cards, especially a professional card sharp (Americans use mechanic for a dishonest player at faro). 1966K. Giles Provenance of Death v. 146 The games were straightish, no real mallarky, though Jack himself was a ‘mechanic’ with the cards if necessary. 1966Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 30 Sept. 27/2 As croupier..always on guard for the sharps—the mechanics. 1970R. & J. Paterson Cranberry Portage vii. 40 He was what other gamblers called a ‘mechanic’, an expert manipulator of playing-cards.
3. In restricted sense: A skilled workman, esp. one who is concerned with the making or use of machinery.
In some English manufacturing districts the term denotes a man who has the management and repairing of the machinery in a factory.
1662Hobbes Consid. (1680) 53 What is here said of Chymists is applicable to all other Mechaniques. 1681Lond. Gaz. No. 1643/4 His Majesty having sent for Sir Samuel Morland..was Graciously pleased to Declare, that he was highly satisfied with all the late Experiments and extraordinary Effects of Sir Samuels new Water-Engine... After which, the Lord Chamberlain..caused him to be Sworn Master of the Mechanicks. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. i, A very handy ingenious Fellow, who was a Cooper by Trade, but was also a general Mechanick; for he was dexterous at making Wheels [etc.]. 1835Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. iv. 31 Captain Gore is, amongst his other excellences, a great mechanic, and a capital working carpenter. 1870Emerson Soc. & Solit., Work & Days Wks. (Bohn) III. 64 The apprentice clings to his foot-rule, a practised mechanic will measure by his thumb.
4. One who holds mechanical theories; a mechanical physiologist. rare. (Cf. mechanist 3.)
a1776R. James Diss. Fevers (1778) 86, I might produce the causes of fevers according to the various principles of the Galenists, the Chymists, the Mechanics.
Add:[B.] [2.] e. A hired killer. slang.
1973W. P. McGivern Reprisal (1974) 163 There's somebody looking for me. A mechanic name of Nick Lye... That's what the Syndicate calls an executioner. 1986J. Gardner Nobody lives Forever iv. 37 Bernie Brazier was Britain's top mechanic, a polite name for a hired killer. 1986J. Wainwright Portrait in Shadows xi. 98 Three hit men—icemen, mechanics, what the hell the present slang calls them. |