machine

[muh-sheen] /məˈʃin/

noun

an apparatus consisting of interrelated parts with separate functions, used in the performance of some kind of work:

a sewing machine.

a mechanical apparatus or contrivance; mechanism.

Mechanics.

a device that transmits or modifies force or motion.
Also called simple machine. any of six or more elementary mechanisms, as the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, wedge, and inclined plane.
Also called complex machine. a combination of simple machines.

Older Use.

an automobile or airplane.
a typewriter.

a bicycle or motorcycle.

a vending machine:

a cigarette machine.

any complex agency or operating system:

the machine of government.

an organized group of persons that conducts or controls the activities of a political party or organization:

He heads the Democratic machine in our city.

a person or thing that acts in a mechanical or automatic manner:

Routine work had turned her into a machine.

10.

any of various contrivances, especially those formerly used in theater, for producing stage effects.

11.

some agency, personage, incident or other feature introduced for effect into a literary composition.

verb (used with object), machined, machining.

12.

to make, prepare, or finish with a machine or with machine tools.

Origin

1540-50; < French < Latin māchina < Doric Greek māchanā́ pulley, akin to mâchos contrivance; cf. mechanic

Related forms

machineless, adjective

antimachine, adjective

unmachined, adjective

Examples from the web for machines

Fewer laborers are needed to-day for a given amount of production and distribution than before the invention of these machines.
Nevertheless, there is a real and deep distinction between the leader and the boss, between organizations and machines.
Moreover, the idea of smashing machines as a form of industrial protest did not begin or end with them.
They build machines to measure the tiniest sensations hands can discern.
He made his name painting cakes, gumboil machines and other everyday subjects.
Learn about simple machines while playing in the apple shed.
The big mining machines remove tons of coal and expose hundreds of square meters of rocks.
After the rice has cooled, machines remove the hulls and sort the grains by size.
The cores will be pure time machines, without the complexities introduced by combining records of change from many places.
Engineers have built dozens of the machines, called wave-energy converters, and tested some on a small scale.

British Dictionary definitions for machines

machine

/məˈʃiːn/

noun

an assembly of interconnected components arranged to transmit or modify force in order to perform useful work

Also called simple machine. a device for altering the magnitude or direction of a force, esp a lever, screw, wedge, or pulley

a mechanically operated device or means of transport, such as a car, aircraft, etc

any mechanical or electrical device that automatically performs tasks or assists in performing tasks

(modifier) denoting a firearm that is fully automatic as distinguished from semiautomatic
(in combination): machine pistol, machine gun

any intricate structure or agency: the war machine

a mechanically efficient, rigid, or obedient person

an organized body of people that controls activities, policies, etc

(esp in the classical theatre) a device such as a pulley to provide spectacular entrances and exits for supernatural characters

10.

an event, etc, introduced into a literary work for special effect

verb

11.

(transitive) to shape, cut, or remove (excess material) from (a workpiece) using a machine tool

12.

to use a machine to carry out a process on (something)

Derived Forms

machinable, machineable, adjective
machinability, noun
machineless, adjective
machine-like, adjective

Word Origin

C16: via French from Latin māchina machine, engine, from Doric Greek makhana pulley; related to makhos device, contrivance

Word Origin and History for machines

machine

1540s, "structure of any kind," from Middle French machine "device, contrivance," from Latin machina "machine, engine, military machine; device, trick; instrument" (cf. Spanish maquina, Italian macchina), from Greek makhana, Doric variant of mekhane "device, means," related to mekhos "means, expedient, contrivance," from PIE *maghana- "that which enables," from root *magh- (1) "to be able, have power" (cf. Old Church Slavonic mogo "be able," Old English mæg "I can;" see may (v.)).

Main modern sense of "device made of moving parts for applying mechanical power" (1670s) probably grew out of mid-17c. senses of "apparatus, appliance" and "military siege-tower." In late 19c. slang the word was used for both "penis" and "vagina," one of the few so honored. Political sense is U.S. slang, first recorded 1876. Machine age is attested by 1851:

The idea of remodelling society at public meetings is one of the least reasonable which ever entered the mind of an agitator: and the notion that the relations of the sexes can be re-arranged and finally disposed of by preamble and resolution, is one of the latest, as it should have been the last, vagary of a machine age. ["The Literary World," Nov. 1, 1851]

Machine for living (in) "house" translates Le Corbusier's machine à habiter (1923).

mid-15c., "decide, resolve," from Old French and Latin usages (see machine (n.)). Related: Machined; machining. Meaning "to make or form on a machine" is from 1878. Related: Machined; machining.

machines in Science

machine

(mə-shēn')
A device that applies force, changes the direction of a force, or changes the strength of a force, in order to perform a task, generally involving work done on a load. Machines are often designed to yield a high mechanical advantage to reduce the effort needed to do that work. ◇ A simple machine is a wheel, a lever, or an inclined plane. All other machines can be built using combinations of these simple machines; for example, a drill uses a combination of gears (wheels) to drive helical inclined planes (the drill-bit) to split a material and carve a hole in it.