physical

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfɪzɪk(ə)l/

adjective

  • 1relating to the body as opposed to the mind: a range of physical and mental challenges
  • involving bodily contact or activity: less physical sports such as bowls a physical relationship
  • 2relating to things perceived through the senses as opposed to the mind; tangible or concrete: the physical world
  • 3relating to physics or the operation of natural forces generally: physical laws

noun

  • 1 (also physical examination) a medical examination to determine a person’s bodily fitness: at fifty-something, each year’s physical was a kind of lottery
  • 2 (physicals) Stock Exchange stocks held in actual commodities for immediate exchange, for example as opposed to futures: the exchange of futures for physicals

Phrases

get physical

  • 1 informal become aggressive or violent: now the players are even getting physical with the refs
  • 2become sexually intimate with someone: I had a strong feeling that, by the end of the day, she and I would get physical

Derivatives

physicality

Pronunciation: /-ˈkalɪti/
noun

physically

adverb

physicalness

noun

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'relating to medicine'): from medieval Latin physicalis, from Latin physica 'things relating to nature' (see physic). Sense 2 dates from the late 16th century and sense 1 from the late 18th century