Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Mechanics \Me*chan"ics\, n. [Cf. F. m['e]canique.]
   That science, or branch of applied mathematics, which treats
   of the action of forces on bodies.

   Note: That part of mechanics which considers the action of
         forces in producing rest or equilibrium is called
         {statics}; that which relates to such action in
         producing motion is called {dynamics}. The term
         mechanics includes the action of forces on all bodies,
         whether solid, liquid, or gaseous. It is sometimes,
         however, and formerly was often, used distinctively of
         solid bodies only: The mechanics of liquid bodies is
         called also {hydrostatics}, or {hydrodynamics},
         according as the laws of rest or of motion are
         considered. The mechanics of gaseous bodies is called
         also {pneumatics}. The mechanics of fluids in motion,
         with special reference to the methods of obtaining from
         them useful results, constitutes {hydraulics}.

   {Animal mechanics} (Physiol.), that portion of physiology
      which has for its object the investigation of the laws of
      equilibrium and motion in the animal body. The most
      important mechanical principle is that of the lever, the
      bones forming the arms of the levers, the contractile
      muscles the power, the joints the fulcra or points of
      support, while the weight of the body or of the individual
      limbs constitutes the weight or resistance.

   {Applied mechanics}, the principles of abstract mechanics
      applied to human art; also, the practical application of
      the laws of matter and motion to the construction of
      machines and structures of all kinds.

Source : WordNet®

mechanics
     n 1: the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in
          a frame of reference
     2: the technical aspects of doing something; "a mechanism of
        social control"; "mechanisms of communication"; "the
        mechanics of prose style" [syn: {mechanism}]