The Collaborative International Dictionary
Physical \Phys"ic*al\, 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.
--J. S. Mill.A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force.
--Macaulay. 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.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.] ``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.
Wiktionary
n. (context medicine English) The examination of the patient's body with the use of such methods as inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation.
Wikipedia
A physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination (more popularly known as a check-up) is the process by which a medical professional investigates the body of a patient for signs of disease. It generally follows the taking of the medical history — an account of the symptoms as experienced by the patient. Together with the medical history, the physical examination aids in determining the correct diagnosis and devising the treatment plan. This data then becomes part of the medical record.
A Cochrane Collaboration meta-study found that routine annual physicals did not measurably reduce the risk of illness or death, and conversely, could lead to over-diagnosis and over-treatment. The authors concluded that routine physicals were unlikely to do more good than harm.
Usage examples of "physical examination".
You are not obliged to submit to physical examination by trainees, but most of our patients do so willingly because they know that we have their best interests at heart.
After that she was subjected to the most meticulously thorough physical examination she had ever experienced.
Mitchell, but the actual dissection and physical examination was handled by Walter Swayze since Mitchell was elderly and had severe arthritis.
Without being aware of it, I did my first physical examination, there and then.
Within minutes he would be under physical examination by members of the most ruthless, most thoroughgoing and efficient race in the solar system.
It would accus torn the healer to the idea of physical examination and investigation against the time when it would be Conway’.
But, to be perfectly clear, I will say that there are live things that must, above all others, be looked after in tunnel work: the air pressure, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, the length of the shifts which the men work, the state of health of the men as near as physical examination can determine it, and the rapidity with which the men come out of the air, so as to prevent carelessness which may cause the bends.
Indeed, it may have been Overbury who pointed out the need there would be for the Countess to undergo physical examination, and it may have been on the certainty that her ladyship could not do so that Overbury rested so securely—.
In the last half-hour Charles Dornberger had given her his usual thorough physical examination, and now he had gone back to his desk.
During the physical examination two of the physicians I encountered were women and I felt no qualm.
He'd allowed himself to be beguiled this day with his tour-and his physical examination?
His first official act was to propose to the provisional government that a full physical examination be given to every citizen of New Eden so that all the personal medical files could be updated.
However, in the report sent by the hospital to the MGH when the patient was admitted, a physical examination form clearly stated that a pelvic exam was normal.