Phys"ic*al (?), a.
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.
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