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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Physical \Phys"ic*al\, adjective
1. Of or pertaining to nature (as including all created existences); in accordance with the laws of nature; also, of or relating to natural or material things, or to the bodily structure, as opposed to things mental, moral, spiritual, or imaginary; material; natural; as, armies and navies are the physical force of a nation; the body is the physical part of man.
Labor, in the physical world, is . . . employed in putting objects in motion. --J. S. Mill.
A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force. --Macaulay.
2. Of or pertaining to physics, or natural philosophy; treating of, or relating to, the causes and connections of natural phenomena; as, physical science; physical laws. ''Physical philosophy.'' --Pope.
3. Perceptible through a bodily or material organization; cognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical, opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.
4. Of or pertaining to physic, or the art of medicine; medicinal; curative; healing; also, cathartic; purgative. [Obs.] ''Physical herbs.'' --Sir T. North.
Is Brutus sick? and is it physical To walk unbraced, and suck up the humors Of the dank morning? --Shak.
{Physical astronomy}, that part of astronomy which treats of the causes of the celestial motions; specifically, that which treats of the motions resulting from universal gravitation.
{Physical education}, training of the bodily organs and powers with a view to the promotion of health and vigor.
{Physical examination} (Med.), an examination of the bodily condition of a person.
{Physical geography}. See under {Geography}.
{Physical point}, an indefinitely small portion of matter; a point conceived as being without extension, yet having physical properties, as weight, inertia, momentum, etc.; a material point.
{Physical signs} (Med.), the objective signs of the bodily state afforded by a physical examination.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
physical
adjective
1: involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit; "physical exercise"; "physical suffering"; "was sloppy about everything but her physical appearance" [ant: {mental}]
2: relating to the sciences dealing with matter and energy; especially physics; "physical sciences"; "physical laws"
3: having substance or material existence; perceptible to the senses; "a physical manifestation"; "surrounded by tangible objects" [syn: {tangible}, {touchable}]
4: according with material things or natural laws (other than those peculiar to living matter); "a reflex response to physical stimuli"
5: characterized by energetic bodily activity; "tennis is an active sport"; "a very physical dance performance" [syn: {active}]
6: concerned with material things; "physical properties"; "the physical characteristics of the earth"; "the physical size of a computer"
7: impelled by physical force especially against resistance; "forcible entry"; "a real cop would get physical"; "strong-arm tactics" [syn: {forcible}, {strong-arm}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
84 Moby Thesaurus words for "physical": Adamic, Circean, actual, aerophysical, animal, animalistic, astrophysical, atavistic, beastlike, beastly, bestial, bodily, born, brutal, brute, brutish, carnal, carnal-minded, check, checkup, coarse, coeval, concrete, congenital, connatal, connate, connatural, constitutional, corporal, corporeal, earthly, earthy, elemental, elementary, fallen, fleshly, genetic, gross, hereditary, hylic, in the blood, inborn, inbred, incarnate, indigenous, inherited, innate, instinctive, instinctual, lapsed, lusty, manifest, material, materialistic, materiate, mortal, native, native to, natural, natural to, nonspiritual, objective, organic, orgiastic, palpable, phenomenal, physical examination, postlapsarian, primal, real, secular, sensible, solid, somatic, spot check, substantial, swinish, tangible, temperamental, temporal, true, unspiritual, visceral, worldly
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
physical The opposite of {logical} in its jargon sense. Compare {real}, {virtual}, and {transparent}. It is said that what you can touch and see is real; what you can see but not touch is virtual; what you can touch but not see is transparent; and what you can neither touch nor see is probably imaginary. (2001-10-26)
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |