Adjective

(en adjective)

Capable of being touched, felt or handled; touchable, tangible.

* (William Shakespeare), Hamlet , act 5, sc. 2:

Osric: A hit, a very palpable hit.

* 1838 , (Edgar Allan Poe), "Ligeia":

I had felt that some palpable although invisible object had passed lightly by my person.

* 1894 , (Bret Harte), "The Heir of the McHulishes" in A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories :

The next morning the fog had given way to a palpable , horizontally driving rain.

Obvious or easily perceived; noticeable.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness,

* 1913 , (Sax Rohmer), The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu ch. 24:

Her voice, her palpable agitation, prepared us for something extraordinary.

* 1916 , (Kathleen Norris), The Heart of Rachael , ch. 7:

No use in raging, in reasoning, in arguing. No use in setting forth the facts, the palpable right and wrong.

(medicine) That can be detected by palpation.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Having to do with the body.

Having to do with the material world.

* John Stuart Mill

Labour, in the physical world, is employed in putting objects in motion.

* Macaulay

A society sunk in ignorance, and ruled by mere physical force.

* {{quote-magazine, title=No hiding place

, date=2013-05-25, volume=407, issue=8837, page=74, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.}}

Involving bodily force.

Having to do with physics.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01, author=Michael Riordan, title=Tackling Infinity

, volume=100, issue=1, page=86, magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.}}

(label)

(obsolete) Relating to physic, or medicine; medicinal; curative; also, cathartic; purgative.

* Sir T. North

Physical herbs.

* Shakespeare

Is Brutus sick? and is it physical / To walk unbraced, and suck up the humours / Of the dank morning?