Mechanism

Quick meaning: Mechanism is a noun meaning (within a machine or machinery) Any mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion, or the transmission or control of power.

Meaning

(within a machine or machinery) Any mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion, or the transmission or control of power.

More Meanings

1. Any combination of cams, gears, links, belts, chains and logical mechanical elements.
2. A group of entities, such as objects, that interact together.
3. A mental, physical, or chemical process.
4. Any process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion.
5. (philosophy) The theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes.

Example Sentences

Whatever the mechanism, attempts to starve the beast through revenue shortages somehow seem to make the beast all the more voracious.

A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.

A site that carried [sexually explicit] material, but that gated it off from children through credit cards or other mechanisms to verify the age of the user, would have an acceptable defense under the act.

A very rare polymorphism in the prion protein gene recently has been identified that appears to protect against prion disease; this finding, in addition to providing greater understanding of the prionlike mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, might lead to potential treatments.

Word Forms

• mechanisms

Synonyms for mechanism

Depending on context, synonyms include mechanicism, mechanics.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include mechanics, machine, clockwork, device, apparatus, machinery.

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