technicaladj.n.
/ˈtɛknᵻkl/, U.S. /ˈtɛknək(ə)l/ A. adj.† 4. Of a thing: skilfully done or made; cf. technic adj. 2. Obsolete. rare. N.E.D. (1911) notes: ‘Perhaps never in Eng.’.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.
1.
a. Of a person: having knowledge of or expertise in a particular art, science, or other subject; skilled in the formal and practical techniques of a particular field. In later use chiefly: expert in or concerned with applied and industrial sciences.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > [adjective]
scientic?1541
scientical?1541
scientific1589
technical1617
ological1854
ologistica1861
disciplinary1931
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > expert, proficient, or versed > in an art, pursuit, or subject
strongOE
knowingc1436
experimented1477
well seen1528
well-studied1530
well-read1574
well beseen1576
curious1577
technical1617
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > knowledge, what is known > familiarity > [adjective] > knowing about, familiar with
craftyOE
slyc1175
coutha1225
well acquainteda1250
privyc1300
cunningc1325
well-groundeda1438
acquainted?a1439
familiar1509
at home1531
overseen1533
intelligent1546
long-experienced1567
conversant1573
skilful1596
accomplished1603
frequent1609
well (better, best) verseda1610
understanding1612
sound1615
studieda1616
technical1617
versed1622
conversing1724
versant1787
on intimate habits1809
special1830
inquainted1849
pre-acquainted1907
sophisticated1952
1617 J. Hales Serm. Oxf. 19 Nor to think themselues sufficiently provided vpon their acquaintance with some Notitia, or systeme of some technicall divine.
1655 T. Pierce Correct Copy Notes Gods Decrees iv. 67 And every technical Grammarian can distinguish the Act which is imply'd in the Participle, from the Aptitude which is couched in the Adjective in bilis.
1790 T. W. Tone Rev. Conduct Admin. 17 The Great Seal was merely a matter of form..which might satisfy the cautious doubts of technical men, but which to a strong mind and a clear understanding was of no further importance.
1794 J. Trapp tr. D. H. Stoever Life C. Linnæus x. 262 The diction of a technical man could not surely be that of a Cicero.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India III. vi. ii. 81 The managers..not being technical men.
1897 A. Drucker tr. R. von Ihering Evol. Aryans iv. v. 360 All the branches of the pontifical duties may be traced back to the original demands laid upon the technical bridgemakers of the migratory period.
1916 Burlington Mag. Apr. 5/1 The enthusiasm of a technical artist for a skilful practitioner shows itself very strongly.
1926 Brit. Gaz. 12 May 3/2 At Basingstoke there is a supply of technical engineers available for work elsewhere.
1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production 15 The technical director is in charge of the technical operational staff on the show.
1998 N.Y. Times 19 July 18/1 Microsoft's technical people think it's completely obvious that an operating system in 1998 should include Web-browsing services.
b. In the designations of certain appointments in the British armed forces (originally the Royal Flying Corps). Cf. technical sergeant n. at Compounds.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [adjective] > other attributes
gallant1875
technical1915
temporary1918
war-substantivea1944
1915 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Daily Tribune 29 Apr. 4/3 A Royal Warrant creating several additional ranks in the Flying Corps. The new officers include..Technical Quarter-master Sergeant.
1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings i. 6 The quality of their [sc. the mechanics'] skilled work is tempered by the technical sergeant-major, who knows most things about an aeroplane.
1942 Stars & Stripes (London ed.) 11 July 5/5 He had lived in the British colony so long that he automatically enlisted in the [British] Army... By the time [the] United States had entered the war he was a technical sergeant major.
1994 Times (Nexis) 23 Mar. There are no arcane military explanations for Technical Quartermaster Sergeant Mcfarland's broad smile.
2007 Wiltshire Gazette & Herald (Nexis) 21 June Tidworth-based Major Phillip Parks from the Royal Horse Artillery received an MBE for services as a technical quartermaster.
2.
a. Of or relating to a particular art or science; originally and chiefly referring to the specialized use or meaning of language in a particular field, as technical sense, technical term, etc. Also: of or relating to the formal or practical aspect of art, or its application.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [adjective] > technical
technological1627
technical1635
pseudo-technical1907
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > [adjective] > technical
technological1627
technical1635
society > occupation and work > [adjective] > relating to practical arts
artificial1531
technic1729
technical1739
1634 T. Jackson Knowledg of Christ Jesus vii. xxviii. §3 ‘The mercy of the Lord’ or of ‘the word of God’ is τὶ τεχνικὸν, that is a word or term whose full importance cannot be had from any ordinary lexicon, unless it be such as is proper unto divinity.]
1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God iv. xxxi. 362 Every good Interpreter should have a Lexicon either of his owne, or others gathering peculiar unto Divinity, specially for words used in a technicall, Emblematicall, or proverbiall sense.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities (1667) sig. b4 Technical Terms or forms of speaking, that suppose the truth of such opinions.
1739 C. Labelye Short Acct. Piers Westm. Bridge p. iv Avoiding as much as possible all technical Terms.
1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xxiv. 385 Our courts now regard a man's personalty in a light nearly, if not quite, equal to his realty: and have adopted a more enlarged and less technical mode of considering the one than the other.
1778 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. App., in Wks. (1859) I. 146 Preserving..the very words of the established law, wherever their meaning had been..rendered technical by usage.
1808 Monthly Pantheon 1 692/2 His wife was (in the technical language of the theatre) a dresser and property-woman.
1835 H. H. Wilson Select Specimens Theatre of Hindus I. p. xli The chief technical classification of the Náyaka, or hero, is into Lalita, gay [etc.].
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 31 Hunt's Light of the World, is..the most perfect instance of expressional purpose with technical power.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 30 May 7/3 The angle at which the plane is inclined to the direction of motion, the technical term for that angle being the angle of attack.
1949 R. K. Merton Social Theory iv. 145 Introduced in a special technical sense, by Nietzsche, the concept of ressentiment was taken up and developed sociologically by Max Scheler.
1961 Times 12 Aug. 9/4 This is not to accuse him of..catching the ear by technical feats and prestissimo semiquavers alone.
2004 B. Greene Fabric of Cosmos xii. 331 In technical language, physicists say that fields undergo vacuum fluctuations.
b. Of a writer, book, etc.: using or dealing with terms that belong to a particular subject or field; treating a subject in a specialist way; requiring specialist knowledge to be understood.
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1779 Mirror No. 48. ⁋1 I have since been endeavouring to make it a little less technical, in order to fit it more for general perusal.
a1832 J. Mackintosh Hist. Revol. Eng. (1834) ix. 272 The Crown lawyers... Powis was feebly technical, and Williams was offensively violent.
1896 Notes & Queries 8th Ser. 9 160/2 [The book] is somewhat too technical for any one who is not a botanist.
1927 Amer. Mercury Feb. 252/1 Between highly dubious tomes of the sex hygiene species on the one hand and unintelligible technical works on the other there is nothing.
1958 C. C. Adams et al. Space Flight iii. 83 During recent months the terms ‘exotic propellants’, ‘Zip-fuels’, and ‘Hi-Cals’ have come into the pages of the trade and technical literature of rocketry.
2002 Guardian 10 June i. 17/6 Not to be too technical, it is also heatset by a magazine printer, which means that very little ink should come off on your hands.
c. Officially or properly so called or regarded; that is such from a specialist point of view; strictly so considered.
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1779 Law & Mod. Pract. Ejectm. xxiv. 86 Twenty years possession is a technical, artificial title.
1860 J. L. Motley Hist. Netherlands (1868) I. i. 20 Permission for soldiers to retreat with technical honour.
1962 Times 2 Aug. 3/3 The ball went to hand off his bat on seven occasions. Most were only technical chances [of a catch].
a1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 249 From the point of view of the electorate this technical promise-keeping is quite unimportant.
1979 J. Harvey Plate Shop xxiii. 110 Forbes tapped, with technical deference and no respect within, on Strudwick's door.
2008 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 6 Jan. (Styles section) 12/4 Several weeks later Mr. Byrd and Ms. Kalos went on what she described as ‘our technical first date’... Two days later they went out alone on what she considers their first real date.
d. Of an offence: so regarded according to a strict legal interpretation (though minor, accidental, etc.).
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society > law > jurisprudence > [adjective] > according to legal interpretation > according to strict legal interpretation
technical1841
1841 G. T. Curtis Treat. Rights & Duties Merchant Seamen ii. iv. 122 Whether the offence would be equally committed, by a technical assault, by menacing to shoot with a gun, or wound with a cutlass, without an actual imposition of hands.
1868 Trial A. Johnson (U.S. Senate) I. 682 The comparatively insignificant acts which constitute the technical crimes and misdemeanors with which the respondent stands charged.
1910 Boston Herald 1 May 8/2 They have no desire to take advantage of technical violations of the law, but they intend to take every step necessary to stop criminal recklessness.
1967 Stanford Law Rev. 19 804 Friends would not sue each other for the small damages occasioned by an accidental nudge in the ribs, even if the nudge amounted to a technical assault.
1996 Voice 25 June 5/5 It's a technical breach of the licence and we have to take it on the chin.
e. Of a sport, activity, etc.: requiring a high level of skill or technique.
ΚΠ
1908 Atlanta Constit. 8 Nov. d5/1 Football is an intricate and very technical game, as games go.
1918 Evening Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) 28 Dec. 1/4 Fencing has not fared so well, as it is rather a technical sport and few have had the opportunity of engaging in it.
1956 Los Angeles Times 2 May iv. 2/6 The 1500 meters must be a technical race.
1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon v. 85 He was not interested in the multi-day epic, or the highly technical rock-climb.
1991 Backpacker Dec. 40/2 These alpine caves are very technical and extremely dangerous; only experienced cavers should enter.
2002 Time 11 Feb. 50/2 In the ‘technical’ events—slalom and giant slalom—Kristina Koznick, the prodigal child of the women's team, is returning home in great form.
3.
a. Belonging or relating to the arts or sciences generally; (in later use) of or relating to applied and industrial sciences or to their application or products.
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1640 E. Dering Speeches Commons House Parl. 23 Nov. (1641) 7 The supercillious pen of my Lords young Chaplein (fit perhaps) for the technicall art, but unfit to hold the Chaire for Divinity.
1663 E. Waterhouse Fortescutus Illustratus viii. 131 The Chancellour urges Grammar knowledge, as the Introduction to all that is Technical.
1798 tr. I. Kant Ess. & Treat. I. 217 That..does not justify from desisting from a pragmatical or even a technical purpose (as, for example, that of travelling in the air in aerostatical balloons).
1801 Times 6 Nov. 3/1 Upon other topics, which require something more than the routine and familiarity of technical knowledge; the splendour of his abilities..lifted him high above all competition.
1879 F. W. Farrar Life & Work St. Paul II. ix. xliii. 373 They could not help in such technical tasks as frapping the vessel.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 802/1 These liquids, either alone or mixed, are employed in making the rubber solutions used for technical purposes.
1930 Economist 1 Feb. 227/1 The technical progress represented by Germany's ‘pocket battleship’ of identical tonnage but heavier armament.
1960 R. G. Haggar Conc. Encycl. Continental Pottery & Porcelain 138/1 Doccia was a hybrid porcelain akin to hard-paste,..badly turned out, often showing fire cracks and other technical faults.
1994 Guardian 24 Oct. ii. 25 (advt.) Once you have successfully completed training you will be operating the technical equipment in our 30 radio studios.
b. Designating or providing practical and vocational education in applied and industrial sciences, as technical college, technical education, technical school, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > technical school
school (also college) of industry1695
working school1695
technical school1824
polytechnic1836
junior technical school1929
society > education > place of education > college or university > [noun] > college > technical college
school1815
technical college1824
polytechnic1836
poly1858
Tech1881
Polytech1900
technicum1924
monotechnic1931
Open Tech1980
1824 A. Cary Addr. Mass. Charitable Mech. Assoc. 21 The liberality and discretion with which he has sustained other institutions for industrial and technical education.
1827 D. Johnston Present Syst. Public Educ. France 204 The technical schools..are frequented by such as are destined to enter into trade and commerce.
1852 in C. H. J. Smith Parks & Pleasure Grounds 296 Five Lectures, delivered..to the members of the Bradford Technical College, and the Society of Dyers and Colorists.
1912 A. Brazil New Girl at St. Chad's x. 152 One of her boys has turned out so clever that he has been sent to the Technical School to study ‘applied arts’.
1978 Nagel's Encycl.-guide: China (ed. 3) 318 The Technical Universities are in fact like polytechnic or engineering schools, and contain as many faculties as they do specialities.
1993 Times Educ. Suppl. 5 Mar. 23/4 The three of them can be expected to be in tune on the importance of vocational and technical education, to share anti-elitist views about qualifications and institutions.
c. Of a chemical or its quality: not of the degree of purity required for a chemical reagent but of sufficient quality for industrial or commercial use. Frequently in technical grade (frequently used attributive).technical water: see Compounds.
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1889 Science 25 Jan. 58/2 The preparation of acetic ether intended for technical purposes.
1902 Science 16 May 781/2 It can manufacture..practically all its organic preparations, from a few technical products.]
1918 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 40 1285 1200 cc. of amyl alcohol (technical grade, b. p. 128–132°, is satisfactory) are placed in a 5-liter copper can and 1000 g. of technical sodium nitrite are added.
1927 Brit. Patent 250,230 2/2 The technical grade acetone is quite satisfactory for the precipitation.
1931 Jrnl. Physical Chem. 35 791 The chlorate was of technical quality (Merck).
1947 R. E. Kirk & D. F. Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. I. 317 The technical grades of 2-octanol are used as solvents for many resins.
1989 E. O. Gangstad Woody Brush Control 176 (table) Physical state, color, and odor: white crystalline solid, odorless (reference grade), brown crystalline solid (technical acid).
2002 D. A. Vallero & J. J. Peirce Engineering Risks of Hazardous Wastes iii. 101 The usage of technical-grade HCH between 1948 and 1997 was recently estimated to be around 10 million tons.
d. Of a textile or fabric: designed for use in situations where function and performance are important.
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1939 N. Rothstein tr. N. Mikhailov Land of Soviets iii. 97 The various combined works, which..transfer their products to each other, manufacture rubber, technical fabrics for tires, tires, motor varnishes, and..automobiles.
1960 Brit. Patent 848,929 1/2 Acrylic fibers have found but limited use in the technical textile field.
1998 G. Sebestyén Construction vi. 214 During the past 50 years, polymers and technical fabrics have been added to the list of materials used for space structures.
2004 New World Map Textiles & Clothing (O.E.C.D.) iv. 146 A hiking jacket may be made entirely of specially designed technical textile fibres..but still meant to be fashionable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > having practical, operative, or constructive skill > skilfully made or wrought
craftyOE
well-wrought?c1225
broidenc1230
quaintc1300
craftily?c1335
craftiousc1400
hagherc1400
well-madec1475
artificial1490
well-framed1532
well-fashioned1542
crafted?1548
well-laboured1550
finished1582
well built1605
well-arted?1611
composeda1616
technical1656
affabrous1755
well-worked1865
technic1877
well-crafted1926
1656 T. Blount Glossographia Technical (technicus), artificial, cunning, done like a workman.
5. Finance. Of, relating to, or designating a market in which prices are determined chiefly by internal factors.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [adjective] > feeling or state of market
sensitive1813
bearish1827
light1827
quiet1833
easy1836
soft1849
weak1856
steady1857
buoyant1868
sick1870
swimming1870
featureless1879
bullish1882
firm1887
gravelly1887
technical1889
pippy1892
manipulated1903
thin1931
volatile1931
trendless1939
nervous1955
toppy1961
over-bullish1970
toppish1983
1889 Glasgow Herald 4 Feb. 8/1 Many weak accounts have been weeded out by the shake up, and the technical market position has also been improved.
1903 Times 21 Feb. 9/1 Indications that the short interest had recently been considerably extended gave the market further technical strength.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 17 July 14/1 A certain amount of support was attracted to individual favorites on the idea the list may have been oversold and was due for a technical comeback.
1962 S. Strand Marketing Dict. 732 Some internal factors considered in appraising the market's technical position include the size of the short interest,..a sharp advance or decline on a small volume and the amount of credit in use in the market.
2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 375 A technical correction takes place in a generally increasing market when there is no particular reason that the increases should be interrupted other than the fact that investors have temporarily slowed securities purchases.
B. n.
1. Usually in plural. A person having technical knowledge or expertise.
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?1734 ‘Pilgrim Plowden’ Farrago 159 Apollo's utensil, By vulgar-soul'd technicals stiled a pencil.
1839 J. Mendham Church of Rome's Traffic in Pardons 32 There are two main parties..on the subject discussed [i.e. the sale of indulgences]. The first may be called the Literals, as the other may be called the Figuratives, or (why not rather) the Technicals.
1883 Lafayette Coll. Jrnl. Oct. 2/1 If the commencement day valedictorian and other honor men are to be technicals they need practice in speaking.
1987 Toronto Star (Nexis) 14 Nov. k3 The project is..said to be responsible for creating 50 new jobs for engineers, artists, technicals and office staff.
2002 J. Mccarthy Software for your Head xiv. 307 Nontechnicals don't feel qualified to discuss vision of any type with the technicals, and technicals feel constrained to imagine only things in the short term and the technical domain.
2. In plural. Technical terms or points; technicalities. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon > used by other groups > particular term(s) in
cavalierism1643
law-word1645
technicals1775
balloonicism1838
regimentalism1875
commercialism1881
femininism1892
journalism1893
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > [noun] > quality of being specific or detailed > a detail or particular > details or particulars > technical
technicals1775
inside baseball1968
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > skill or art > technical methods or qualities > technical detail(s)
technicality1787
technic1797
technicals1863
1775 J. Beaufort Hoyle's Games Improved vii. 117 A dictionary of the technicals made use of at the game of quadrille.
1790 By-stander 352 Prone to..scold in technicals which they know not how to apply.
1825 Eng. Life II. 254 The cramped and barbarous technicals of law.
1863 D. G. Mitchell My Farm of Edgewood 236 The latter has a wall about him of self-confidence, ignorance of technicals.
1892 H. H. Furness in W. Shakespeare Tempest (New Variorum ed.) 256 (note) It is the first instance in which Shakespeare, in his use of technicals, has been proved to be wrong.
1911 S. B. Chester Anomalies Eng. Law 11 Hear how the barrister confounds him with a hail-storm of technicals.
3. Basketball. = technical foul n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > basketball > [noun] > foul
technical foul1878
personal1914
technical1917
foul trouble1931
profit foul1952
1917 Indianapolis Star 29 Nov. 12/7 A technical was..called on the visitors... Another technical on Manual gave Bloomington another chance at a free throw.
1972 D. Wolf Foul! xxiii. 306 The Phoenix players felt he was unusually quick to hit Hawk with fouls and technicals.
2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 17 June c19/1 ‘I don't know if technicals help anybody,’ Pistons Coach Larry Brown said.
4. Usually in plural. Originally and chiefly in the context of the conflict in Somalia in the early 1990s.
a. A jeep, pick-up truck, or similar vehicle with a machine gun or other armament mounted on the back; spec. a converted non-military vehicle of this type.
ΚΠ
1992 Independent on Sunday 15 Nov. 17/1 Shooting broke out at the airport on Friday when General Aideed's troops drove to the edge of the airstrip in ‘technicals’.
1993 Albuquerque (New Mexico) Jrnl. 11 Feb. a16/1 The warlord agreed to move his remaining ‘technicals’, a motley collection of civilian vehicles with heavy weapons mounted on their frames.
2003 U.S. News & World Rep. 14 Apr. 23/1 At one point, a family driving by was struck by a ‘technical’, a pickup truck with a .50-caliber machine gun.
2008 Sunday Independent (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 6 Jan. 9 When I visited..North Darfur, I was astonished to see that the most advanced protection available was Somali-style ‘technicals’.
b. A combatant who rides in a vehicle of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun] > others
artificera1553
man-catcher1649
stormer1655
sallier1685
pressmana1694
camp colour-man1753
sharpshooter1802
train soldier1833
escalader1849
adviser1854
outflanker1854
observer1870
spiker1884
mopper-up1917
slushy1919
wire-cutter1922
televisionary1925
flash-spotter1930
spotter1931
parashooter1940
parashot1940
bunker buster1944
sound-ranger1978
yomper1982
technical1992
1992 Atlanta Jrnl. 8 Dec. a15/1 Vehicles entering the airport zone simply drop their ‘technicals’.
1993 U.S. News & World Rep. 11 Jan. 32/2 Most of the ‘technicals’..have driven their war wagons into the countryside.
2004 Rev. Afr. Polit. Econ. 31 533 Four technicals went to our vehicle, all with AK 47s.
Compounds
technical analysis n. Finance analysis which uses patterns in market data, as opposed to external factors, as a means of identifying trends and forecasting future developments; an instance of this; cf. sense A. 5.
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1902 Banker's Mag. Aug. 218 Statistical Studies in the New York Money Market. By John Pease Norton…This is an exhaustive technical analysis of the causes affecting the New York money market, accompanied by numerous statistical tables.
1949 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 Mar. 15/3 In the latest edition of his technical analysis of 100 investment stocks with rating classification [he] said he considered outstanding buys on any weakness from present levels: American Smelting, American Tobacco, Caterpillar Tractor.
2003 U.S. News & World Rep. 16 June 53/1 One alluring alternative is to employ technical analysis, or ‘chart-reading’, which involves tracking a stock's price and trading-volume patterns as a way of predicting future performance.
technical analyst n. Finance a practitioner of or expert in technical analysis.
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1937 Christian Sci. Monitor 23 June 12/1 The stock market wandered ahead at a leisurely pace today but gains were uneven. Technical analysts searching the list for cues to near-term trend were thwarted by skimpy volume.
2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 256 Technical analysts consider great volume on rising prices bullish because it indicates the possibility that large traders are accumulating investment positions in a security.
technical area n. Association Football a designated area around a team's dugout or bench, from where instruction may be given to players on the field.
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1993 Press Assoc. Newswire (Nexis) 26 Feb. The Board's meeting.., will also decide on whether touchline coaching, from a defined technical area, can now be allowed.
1999 Sunday People 26 Sept. 65/4 I've actually got a case pending at the moment because I encroached out of my technical area in the first game of the season.
2005 Times 10 Jan. (Game section) 8/1 Keegan sat slumped on his seat..leaving Derek Fazakerley to bark orders from the technical area.
technical difficulty n. a difficulty arising from a method of procedure; (now also) a technological problem; usually in plural.In earlier use esp. relating to legal procedure; cf. technical hitch n.
ΚΠ
1771 G. Rous Let. to Jurors 11 I paid little attention to the cavils of some loquacious Templars, who seemed to be puzzled with technical difficulties.
1798 Times 22 Feb. 2/3 To disembarrass not only the Ways and Means, but every other branch of finance, from all technical difficulties.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xv. 714 A technical difficulty had arisen about the mode of bringing him to trial.
1955 Sci. News Let. 5 Mar. 158/3 Multiplexing is only practical on FM broadcasts because at present there are too many technical difficulties in splitting up AM programs.
1991 J. Kingdom Local Govt. & Politics in Brit. xi. 175 Many services are provided by local government because the technical difficulties of charging mean that private firms are not interested.
technical drawing n. a precise and detailed drawn representation or plan of an object, used in the fields of architecture, engineering, etc.; (also) the action or skill of drawing objects in this manner; cf. draughtsmanship n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > [noun] > a drawing > in specific manner
monogram1610
description1655
manu-tract1660
eye-draft1695
outline1735
eye-sketch1757
scribble1824
monography1828
technical drawing1831
chic1844
reversion1848
outline drawing1850
life drawing1867
1831 New Monthly Mag. 33 26/1 That pictorial effect..which technical drawings cannot give.
1875 Times 27 Aug. 13/2 The learning of the modern languages, mathematics,..technical drawing, [etc.].
1944 T. E. Scott in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder xiv. 413/2 Ability in making and reading technical drawings is developed with the study of building construction.
2005 Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (Nexis) 7 Apr. z2 Keeley..won first place in noncomputer technical drawing.
technical fix n. originally U.S. a solution to a problem achieved by technological means (sometimes with implications of superficiality).
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1970 World Politics 22 329 The quick theoretical fix has taken its place in our culture alongside the quick technical fix.
2005 Nation (N.Y.) 28 Mar. 24/3 Sustainable development is the antidote to single-issue politics and technical fixes.
technical foul n. Sport a foul awarded according to a strict interpretation of the rules; (Basketball) an infraction which does not involve contact between opponents.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > basketball > [noun] > foul
technical foul1878
personal1914
technical1917
foul trouble1931
profit foul1952
1878 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 10 May They say if they had been going to a [real] fire, technical fouls would hardly count against one or for the other; the one that got there first and saved life or property would be counted the winner.
1896 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 10 Dec. 5/3 The visitors were declared guilty of several technical fouls, but only twice was Adelphi successful in scoring from the free throws thus afforded it.
1925 Elem. School Jrnl. 25 433 You see an opportunity to win a game by committing a technical foul which will probably not be observed.
1959 Times 19 Oct. 14/7 As she committed a technical foul during this operation [sc. a penalty bully in hockey] a penalty goal was the result.
2004 T. Hanlon Sports Rules Bk. (ed. 2) vi. 38 Examples of technical fouls include use of profanity, delay of game,..and hanging on the rim.
technical grade n. see sense A. 3c.
technical hitch n. an interruption or temporary stoppage resulting from a technical issue (now esp. a mechanical failure); (in extended use) an unexpected obstacle or snag.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > [noun] > cessation of operation
technical hitch1877
shutdown1911
seize1912
the world > action or operation > difficulty > hindrance > hindering completely or preventing > [noun] > a check or rebuff > temporary or minor
hocket1276
stick1647
hitch1748
contretemps1809
technical hitch1877
glitch1962
hiccup1965
1877 J. L. Crane Two Circuits Contents p. xii A technical hitch—Law's delay.
1928 Times 31 Oct. 14/6 There was a technical hitch in the transmission of the first [picture].
1958 ‘R. Crompton’ William's Television Show v. 148 Couldn't we say there's been a technical hitch?
1995 Sun 25 July 22/4 All your plans should go like clockwork—barring the odd technical hitch or difference of opinion.
technical knockout n. Boxing the termination of a fight on the grounds of one boxer's inability to continue (though not counted out), the opponent being declared the winner; abbreviated TKO.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > boxing > [noun] > knock-out or technical knockout
technical knockout1909
TKO1942
kill1950
1909 Washington Post 15 Aug. (Sporting section) 1/7 Lewis won fairly and by a technical knockout.
1990 Ring Oct. 62/2 Curtis ‘Hatchet Man’ Shepard..picked up a technical knockout at 2:07 of the third round of a scheduled six against Stanley Lewis.
technical rehearsal n. a rehearsal, esp. of a play, devoted to practising the use of technical elements such as lighting, sound effects, and scenery.
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1913 N.Y. Times 24 Dec. 11/9 This step is taken on account of the necessity for a ‘technical’ rehearsal of ‘Louise’, the next week's opera.
1939 Stevens Point (Wisconsin) Daily Jrnl. 13 Dec. 10/1 Central State's dramatic organization..completed dress and technical rehearsals for its major first-semester production.
2000 P. McLynn in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 386 The technical rehearsals were a nightmare.
technical sergeant n. (also with capital initials) U.S.A.F. and (now historical) U.S. Army a non-commissioned officer ranking below Master Sergeant and above Staff Sergeant.In 1948 the United States Army's rank of Technical Sergeant was renamed Sergeant First Class.
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1920 Army & Navy Jrnl. (U.S.) 26 June 1338/2 Enlisted men of the ‘second grade’ will be designated as Technical Sergeants or First Sergeants.
1992 R. Perle Hard Line i. iii. 30 A technical sergeant crouched in front of the large gray crypto box connected to the secure telephone, a sure sign it was down again.
technical support n. help or advice regarding a specialist matter; (Computing) the maintenance of computing equipment and advice regarding its use provided by a company for its employees, by a manufacturer for its customers, etc.; the department of a company responsible for providing such a service.
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1856 C. C. Schieferdecker Dr. C. G. G. Nittinger's Evils of Vaccination p. vii I hope for moral and technical support in this war against the Vaccine Medusa.
1914 A. S. Dewing Corporate Promotions & Reorganizations xiv. 405 The strong technical support brought to the old International Cotton Mills Corporation..was further reinforced by placing much of the direct management in the hands of a firm of mill engineers.
1956 Operations Res. 4 190 General technical support and supervision of the local teams are again the responsibility of the Defence Research Board.
1989 Byte Aug. 1/2 (advt.) Every Dell system comes with a toll-free technical support line and self-diagnostic software.
2001 F. Popcorn & A. Hanft Dict. Future 163 There are people working in Ivory Basements who forget what it's like for real people—without technical support standing by—to take a new computer out of its box and try valiantly to set it up.
technical verse n. now historical a verse composed as an aid to memorizing something; cf. memoria technica n.
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the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > improvement of memory, mnemonics > [noun] > memory aid
prompt1707
technical verse1728
mnemonic1842
mnemonicon1858
knot-writing1896
memory drug1965
mnemotechnic1991
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Technical Verses are commonly compos'd in Latin: They are generally wretched ones, and often barbarous; but 'tis Utility is all aim'd at.
a1797 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. (rev. ed.) i. ii, in Wks. (1869) VII. 178 The proficiency of their pupils was estimated principally by the number of technical verses which they retained in their memory.
1860 W. Fleming Vocab. Philos. 307 Rhythm and rhyme giving aid to the memory, technical verses have been framed for that purpose in various departments of study.
2001 R. Black Humanism & Educ. in Medieval & Renaissance Italy iii. 77 Technical verse, whose primary aim was to fix grammatical rules in the memory of pupils.
technical water n. water of a quality suitable for industrial use but not for drinking or other human use.
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1931 U.S. Patent 1,789,414 2/1 The substances, which impart to the technical water the capacity of quickly penetrating fibrous material..are sulfo-acids.
1963 Deep Sea Res. 10 657 The expedition was occupying itself with..a study of the sources of fresh and technical water and of fuel sources around the bay.
2003 V. Simanzhenkov & R. Idem Crude Oil Chem. vii. 309 The cleanliness of the technical water from the waste water cleaning plant is not sufficient for it to be released into natural pools.
Derivatives
ˈtechnicalize v. (transitive) to make technical, give a technical meaning to.
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the mind > language > a language > register > [verb (transitive)] > make into jargon or technical language
cant1592
jargon1805
jargonize1825
technicalize1852
1852 G. C. Lewis Methods Observ. Politics I. 78 Words current in the language of ordinary life..were (if we may be allowed the expression) technicalized.
1924 Times 15 Dec. 9/3 Closer touch between the secondary school and the technical school ws also needed, but not in the direction of technicalizing secondary schools.
1986 A. Oakley in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley What is Feminism? 127 Medicine has technicalized the love of mother and child, at the same time as it has set up a structure of services for mother and child which emphasize surveillance, not caring.
ˈtechnicalness n. the quality of being technical, technicality.
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1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Technicalness.
1934 Rev. Educ. Res. 4 170 The words were also scrutinized as to their real ‘technical-ness’... Those that seemed to have little practical value outside the classroom were starred.
1993 S. Papert Children's Machine iii. 56 The great issue in the future of education is whether technology will strengthen or undermine the technicalness of what has became the theoretical model, and to a large extent the reality, of School.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1617