Hy*drau"lics (?), n. [Cf. F.
hydraulique.] That branch of science, or of engineering,
which treats of fluids in motion, especially of water, its action in
rivers and canals, the works and machinery for conducting or raising
it, its use as a prime mover, and the like.
&fist; As a science, hydraulics includes hydrodynamics, or the
principles of mechanics applicable to the motion of water; as a
branch of engineering, it consists in the practical application of
the mechanics of fluids to the control and management of water with
reference to the wants of man, including canals, waterworks,
hydraulic machines, pumps, water wheels, etc. Some writers treat
hydraulics and hydrostatics as subdivisions of hydrodynamics.
