mechanic /mɪˈkænɪk/noun 6adjective 3forms 1 noun6 •someone whose job is to fix engines, especially those of cars and trucks •A device, method or means; a function. •A function, rule or other implementation that dictates gameplay; a ludeme, a feature.This game has a mechanic where if you run toward a ledge you automatically jump off rather than just falling. •(historical) A manual worker; a labourer or artisan.The lower orders were freer than they had ever been – free […] to choose their own lay preachers, mechanics like the rest of the congregation. — 1972 •A cheat who manipulates the cards or dice.I can do other things beside burglarizing. I'm a first-class crap dealer, I'm a pretty good card mechanic, pretty good dice mechanic. — 1969 •(slang) A hitman.And from then on, his bag was silence. Silence and killing. Overnight he became the best grunt we had, a real killer, a mechanic. — 1976 adjective3 •(no longer used) mechanical; precise but lifeless, as if performed by machineBut, for the unquiet heart and brain, A use in measured language lies; The sad mechanic exercise, Like dull narcotics, numbing pain. — 1850 •(no longer used) mechanical; relating to mechanics or the laws of motion in physics[…] these mechanick Philosophers being in no Way able to give an Account thereof from the necessary motion of Matter, unguided by Mind for Ends […] — 1691 •(no longer used) Of or relating to a mechanic or artificer, or to the class of artisans; hence, rude; common; vulgar; base.Mechanic slaves, With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers. — 1606 formsmechanics
