Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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.
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.