mechanism

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mech·an·ism / ˈmekəˌnizəm/ • n. 1. a system of parts working together in a machine; a piece of machinery: the gunner injured his arm in the turret mechanism.2. a natural or established process by which something takes place or is brought about: we have no mechanism for assessing the success of forwarded inquiries the mechanism by which genes build bodies. ∎  a contrivance in the plot of a literary work: his Irma La Douce is a musical based on the farce mechanism.3. Philos. the doctrine that all natural phenomena, including life and thought, allow mechanical explanation by physics and chemistry.

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