magic
adj. 1. As yet unexplained, or too complicated to explain;
compare automagically and (Arthur C.) Clarke's Third Law:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic." "TTY echoing is controlled by a large number of magic
bits." "This routine magically computes the parity of an 8-bit
byte in three instructions." 2. Characteristic of something that
works although no one really understands why (this is especially
called black magic). 3. [Stanford] A feature not generally
publicized that allows something otherwise impossible, or a feature
formerly in that category but now unveiled. Compare black magic,
wizardly, deep magic, heavy wizardry.
For more about hackish `magic', see A Story About `Magic'
(in Appendix A).
