| physic | 1. The art of healing diseases; the science of medicine; the theory or practice of medicine. "A doctor of physik." 2. A specific internal application for the cure or relief of sickness; a remedy for disease; a medicine. 3. Specifically, a medicine that purges; a cathartic. 4. A physician. <botany> Physic nut, a small tropical American euphorbiaceous tree (Jatropha Curcas), and its seeds, which are well flavored, but contain a drastic oil which renders them dangerous if eaten in large quantities. Origin: OE. Phisike, fisike, OF. Phisique, F. Physique knowledge of nature, physics, L. Physica, physice, fr. Gr, fr. Natural, from nature, fr. To produce, grow, akin to E. Be. See Be, and cf. Physics, Physique. 1. To treat with physic or medicine; to administer medicine to, especially. A cathartic; to operate on as a cathartic; to purge. 2. To work on as a remedy; to heal; to cure. "The labour we delight in physics pain." (Shak) "A mind diseased no remedy can physic." (Byron) Origin: Physiced; Physicking. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| physical | Pertaining to the body, to material things or to physics. (18 Nov 1997) |
| physical age | The age in terms of structure rather than of function or of passage of time. Synonym: physical age. (05 Mar 2000) |
| physical allergy | Excessive response to factors in the environment such as heat or cold. (05 Mar 2000) |
| physical anthropology | The study of the physical attributes of human beings. (05 Mar 2000) |
| physical conditioning, animal | Physical conditioning of domestic, laboratory, and zoo animals. Includes exercising of animals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| physical containment | <cell culture> Creation of physical barriers to keep genetically engineered organisms inside the laboratory. (31 Dec 1997) |
| physical dependence | <pharmacology> Physiologic adaptation of the body to the presence of opioid is required to maintain the same level of analgesia. (31 Dec 1997) |
| physical diagnosis | A diagnosis made by means of physical examination of the patient, or the process of a physical examination. (05 Mar 2000) |
| physical education and training | Instructional programs in the care and development of the body, often in schools. The concept does not include prescribed exercises, which is exercise therapy. (12 Dec 1998) |
| physical elasticity of muscle | <anatomy> The quality of muscle that enables it to yield to passive physical stretch. (05 Mar 2000) |
| physical endurance | The time span between the beginning of physical activity by an individual and the termination because of exhaustion. (12 Dec 1998) |
| physical examination | Systematic and thorough inspection of the patient for physical signs of disease or abnormality. (12 Dec 1998) |
| physical fitness | A state of well-being in which performance is optimal, often as a result of physical conditioning which may be prescribed for disease therapy. (12 Dec 1998) |
| physical half-life | The time required for half the atoms of a radionuclide to undergo disintegration. (05 Mar 2000) |