mech

• IPA^(key): /mɛk/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛk

mech (countable and uncountable, plural mechs)

1. (science fiction) A large piloted combat robot.
2. (science fiction) A robot.

   Synonym: robot

   Hyponyms: android, mechanoid

   • 1999, Analog Science Fiction & Fact - Volume 119, page 55:

     But I reprogrammed the recognition codes, and they won't treat him as Roubor Transic, nor will they obey any order he gives them. He's Mr. X to the mechs, a casual human to be taken care of just as well as possible, but never, never released.

   • 2001, Robert I. Katz, Edward Maret: A Novel of the Future, page 100:

     He particularly liked the box full of "companions," small, hand-held mechs with advanced AI functions, programmed as individual advice and information systems.

   • 2006, Lou Anders, Futureshocks, page 75:

     She grew up in Lower Manhattan, suffering the impeccably programmed attentions of the nanny mechs that did the work her mother and father couldn't be bothered with.

   • 2019, Ron S. Nolan, Met Chron New-Humans:

     After a round of hugs and kisses, they headed to the lounge where Genie met them at the door and escorted them to the new VIP section followed by a mech that took their drink orders.

3. Clipping of mechanic.
   • 1979, Daved V. Arel, “Switchitis”, in Mech, page 6:

     Yes, Switchitis. It's a highly contagious disease which can affect all propeller mechs. This disease can be costly, but usually not to the mechs. They're just the carriers. The people most affected by this disease are the flightcrews – those fearless adventurers who go flying around in machines that you mechs have worked on.

4. (uncountable) Clipping of mechanics.
5. (cycling) Clipping of (derailleur) mechanism.

   front/rear mech

   • 2011, Fred Milson, Complete Bike Maintenance, MVP Books, →ISBN, page 88:

     To fit a braze-on front mech without breaking the chain, remove the nut and bolt from the chain cage, as shown.

   • 2015, Chris Boardman, The Biography of the Modern Bike: The Ultimate History of Bike Design, Hachette, →ISBN, page 54:

     Campagnolo made one more giant step forward when the company developed the first parallelogram rear mechanism—the Gran Sport—in 1951. Its parallelogram action and double jockey wheels are how all rear mechanisms (or rear mechs for short) operate today.

• stat mech

• mecha
• CAS

mech

1. Abbreviation of mechanical.
2. Abbreviation of mechanized.

• Chem., Emch, chem, chem.

Inherited from Old Czech mech, from Proto-Slavic *mъxъ.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛx]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛx

mech m inan

1. moss

• “mech”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “mech”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “mech”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mъxъ.

• IPA^(key): /mɛx/, [mæx]

mech m inan

1. moss (plants of the division Bryophyta)

• Muka, Arnošt (1921, 1928) “mech”, in Słownik dolnoserbskeje rěcy a jeje narěcow (in German), St. Petersburg, Prague: ОРЯС РАН, ČAVU; Reprinted Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag, 2008
• Starosta, Manfred (1999) “mech”, in Dolnoserbsko-nimski słownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch (in German), Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag

From Middle High German mich, from Old High German mih.

• IPA^(key): /meχ/, [məɕ]

mech

1. first-person singular, accusative: me

   Kënnt Dir mech verstoen? — Can you understand me?

2. first-person singular, reflexive: myself

   Ech hu mech blesséiert — I have hurt myself

mech

1. alternative form of macchen

Inherited from Old Polish mech, from Proto-Slavic *mъxъ, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *muśas, from Proto-Indo-European *músos, from the root *mews- (“moss”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛx
• Syllabification: mech
• Homophone: Mech

mech m inan (diminutive meszek)

1. moss

• mech in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• mech in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *mě̑xъ.

• IPA^(key): [mex]

mech m inan (diminutive miešok)

1. bag
2. bellows

• mechúr

• “mech”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

From Proto-Algic *mehše (“fire”).

• IPA^(key): /metʃ/, [mɛ̞tʃ]

mech

1. fire