Physical /(fĭz"ĭ*kal)/
Phys·ic·al
Physical
a.
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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.
A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force.
- 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.
- Perceptible through a bodily or material organization; cognizable by the senses; external; as, the physical, opposed to chemical, characters of a mineral.
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Of or pertaining to physic, or the art of medicine; medicinal; curative; healing; also, cathartic; purgative. [Obs.]
Is Brutus sick? and is it physical To walk unbraced, and suck up the humors Of the dank morning?
Phrases & Compounds
- 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
- 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
- the objective signs of the bodily state afforded by a physical examination.