Definition of mechanism
1a : a piece of machinery (see machinery sense 1)
The camera's shutter mechanism is broken.
b : a process, technique, or system for achieving a result
the mechanisms of peace— F. D. Roosevelt
2 : mechanical operation or action : working sense 2 he acknowledges nothing besides matter and motion; so that all must be performed either by mechanism or by accident— Richard Bentley
3 : a doctrine that holds natural processes (as of life) to be mechanically determined and capable of complete explanation by the laws of physics and chemistry
4 : the fundamental processes involved in or responsible for an action, reaction, or other natural phenomenon meteorologists believe that this pressure jump is the mechanism responsible for storms and tornadoes — Think — compare defense mechanism
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Time Traveler for mechanism
The first known use of mechanism was in 1662
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