Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to a specific field or subject: Pertaining to the practical, mechanical, or industrial arts, or to applied or pure sciences. It involves specialized knowledge or skills.
   • Involving details and terminology understood by experts: Characterized by or using the precise details, methods, or vocabulary of a particular field, often difficult for non-specialists to understand.
   • According to a strict interpretation of rules: Based on or adhering strictly to the explicit rules or formal criteria of a system, sometimes in a way that seems minor or trivial.

2. Noun:

   • A rule violation in sports: In games like basketball, a foul called for an infraction of the rules that does not usually involve physical contact, such as unsportsmanlike conduct.
   • A specialized vehicle: (Archaic/Slang) A pickup truck equipped with a mounted weapon.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:

  • The manual was full of technical jargon that only engineers could understand.
  • She faced a technical problem with the software's code.
  • The lawyer won the case on a technical point of law.

• Noun:

  • The player was given a technical for arguing with the referee.
  • (Historical context) The rebels used a technical to patrol the area.

Advanced Usage

• "Technical analysis": In finance, the evaluation of securities by analyzing statistics generated by market activity, such as past prices and volume.

  • He relies on technical analysis rather than company fundamentals to trade stocks.

• "Technical difficulty": A problem related to the machinery, equipment, or complex systems being used.

  • The broadcast was interrupted due to a technical difficulty.

• "On a technicality": Based on a minor or precise point of a rule or law.

  • The defendant was acquitted on a technicality.

Variants and Related Words

• Technically (adverb): In a way that relates to the practical, mechanical, or scientific aspects of something; or according to the strict meaning of the rules.
  • Technically, the contract is invalid because it wasn't signed.
• Technicality (noun): A specific detail or point of procedure, especially one that is minor or formal.
  • The case was dismissed on a legal technicality.
• Technician (noun): A person skilled in the technical aspects of a field, especially one who maintains equipment.
  • The laboratory technician calibrated the instruments.

Synonyms

• Specialized: Designed for or focused on a particular area of knowledge.
• Mechanical: Relating to machinery or tools.
• Procedural: Relating to an established or official way of doing something.

Related Phrases

• Technical foul: (Phrase) The full term for the noun sense in sports, especially basketball.
  • The coach received a technical foul for leaving the coaching box.
• Technical support: (Phrase) A service providing assistance with technological products.
  • I called technical support to fix my internet connection.

Idioms

• Get technical: To start discussing the complex, detailed aspects of something.
  • I don't want to get technical, but your theory has several flaws in its basic assumptions.

Adjective

1. resulting from or dependent on market factors rather than fundamental economic considerations
   • analysts content that the stock market is due for a technical rally
   • the fall is only a technical correction
2. of or relating to or requiring special knowledge to be understood
   • technical terminology
   • a technical report
   • technical language
3. of or relating to a practical subject that is organized according to scientific principles
   • technical college
   • technological development
4. characterizing or showing skill in or specialized knowledge of applied arts and sciences
   • a technical problem
   • highly technical matters hardly suitable for the general public
   • a technical report
   • producing the A-bomb was a challenge to the technical people of this country
   • technical training
   • technical language
5. of or relating to technique or proficiency in a practical skill
   • his technical innovation was his brushwork
   • the technical dazzle of her dancing

Noun

1. (basketball) a foul that can be assessed on a player or a coach or a team for unsportsmanlike conduct; does not usually involve physical contact during play
2. a pickup truck with a gun mounted on it