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.
Usage examples of "physical signs".
I assured Michael there would be no physical signs of the defect, as there are in Down's, and that since Whittingham's is a blocked recessive trait, there was little likelihood that any possible offspring would be affected before the third generation at the earliest.
Gradually, Nals became more his old taciturn self again, loping ahead of them, head low over the rocky ground and confirming the occasional physical signs of Thyrn’.
Jarad took a seat also, the physical signs of a truce reflected in the mutual subsidence of their power.
There was a momentary pause, during which Croaker monitored her physical signs like a cardiologist observing a patient in ICU.
It was going to be a task, he realized, of laboriously quartering the decks one by one, looking for physical signs of the Klaggs and trying to pick up some trace, some whisper, of recognizable mental resonance from Cray.
He told don Juan that Indian women were practical and went directly to the heart of things, but that they were also very shy, and that when challenged they showed the physical signs of fright in shifty eyes, tight mouths, and enlarged nostrils.