Adjacent Words

Machine definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MACHINE, n. [L. machina.] An artificial work, simple or complicated, that serves to apply or regulate moving power, or to produce motion, so as to save time or force. The simple machines are the six mechanical powers, viz.; the lever, the pulley, the axis and wheel,the wedge, the screw, and the inclined plane. Complicated machines are such as combine two or more of these powers for the production of motion or force.
1. An engine; an instrument of force.
With inward arms the dire machine they load.
2. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced into a poem to perform some exploit.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks
2: an efficient person; "the boxer was a magnificent fighting machine"
3: an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently; "the war machine"
4: a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point [syn: machine, simple machine]
5: a group that controls the activities of a political party; "he was endorsed by the Democratic machine" [syn: machine, political machine]
6: a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine; "he needs a car to get to work" [syn: car, auto, automobile, machine, motorcar] v
1: turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery
2: make by machinery; "The Americans were machining while others still hand-made cars"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle French, from Latin machina, from Greek m?chan? (Doric dialect machana), from m?chos means, expedient — more at may Date: circa 1545 1. a. archaic a constructed thing whether material or immaterial b. conveyance, vehicle; especially automobile c. archaic a military engine d. any of various apparatuses formerly used to produce stage effects e. (1) an assemblage of parts that transmit forces, motion, and energy one to another in a predetermined manner (2) an instrument (as a lever) designed to transmit or modify the application of power, force, or motion f. a mechanically, electrically, or electronically operated device for performing a task g. a coin-operated device <a cigarette machine> h. machinery — used with the or in plural 2. a. a living organism or one of its functional systems b. one that resembles a machine (as in being methodical, tireless, or consistently productive) <a gifted publicist and quote machine — John Lancaster> c. (1) a combination of persons acting together for a common end along with the agencies they use (2) a highly organized political group under the leadership of a boss or small clique 3. a literary device or contrivance introduced for dramatic effect II. transitive verb (machined; machining) Date: 1853 to process by or as if by machine; especially to reduce or finish by or as if by turning, shaping, planing, or milling by machine-operated tools • machinability also machineability noun • machinable also machineable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an apparatus using or applying mechanical power, having several parts each with a definite function and together performing certain kinds of work. 2 a particular kind of machine, esp. a vehicle, a piece of electrical or electronic apparatus, etc. 3 an instrument that transmits a force or directs its application. 4 the controlling system of an organization etc. (the party machine). 5 a person who acts mechanically and with apparent lack of emotion. --v.tr. make or operate on with a machine (esp. in sewing or printing). Phrases and idioms: machine code (or language) a computer language that a particular computer can respond to directly. machine-readable in a form that a computer can process. machine tool a mechanically operated tool for working on metal, wood, or plastics. machine-tooled 1 shaped by a machine tool. 2 (of artistic presentation etc.) precise, slick, esp. excessively so. Etymology: F f. L machina f. Gk makhana Doric form of mekhane f. mekhos contrivance

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Machine Ma*chine", n. [F., fr. L. machina machine, engine, device, trick, Gr. ?, from ? means, expedient. Cf. Mechanic.] 1. In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion from a prime mover or from another machine, and transmit, modify, and apply them to the production of some desired mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine. Note: The term machine is most commonly applied to such pieces of mechanism as are used in the industrial arts, for mechanically shaping, dressing, and combining materials for various purposes, as in the manufacture of cloth, etc. Where the effect is chemical, or other than mechanical, the contrivance is usually denominated an apparatus, not a machine; as, a bleaching apparatus. Many large, powerful, or specially important pieces of mechanism are called engines; as, a steam engine, fire engine, graduating engine, etc. Although there is no well-settled distinction between the terms engine and machine among practical men, there is a tendency to restrict the application of the former to contrivances in which the operating part is not distinct from the motor. 2. Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. --Dryden. --Southey. --Thackeray. 3. A person who acts mechanically or at will of another. 4. A combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use; as, the social machine. The whole machine of government ought not to bear upon the people with a weight so heavy and oppressive. --Landor. 5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends. [Political Cant] 6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit. --Addison. Elementary machine, a name sometimes given to one of the simple mechanical powers. See under Mechanical. Infernal machine. See under Infernal. Machine gun.See under Gun. Machine screw, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into metal, in distinction from one which is designed especially to be screwed into wood. Machine shop, a workshop where machines are made, or where metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc. Machine tool, a machine for cutting or shaping wood, metal, etc., by means of a tool; especially, a machine, as a lathe, planer, drilling machine, etc., designed for a more or less general use in a machine shop, in distinction from a machine for producing a special article as in manufacturing. Machine twist, silken thread especially adapted for use in a sewing machine. Machine work, work done by a machine, in contradistinction to that done by hand labor.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Machine Ma*chine", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Machined; p. pr. & vb. n. Machining.] To subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Molding Mold"ing, Moulding Mould"ing, p.a. Used in making a mold or moldings; used in shaping anything according to a pattern. Molding, or Moulding, board. (a) See Follow board, under Follow, v. t. (b) A board on which bread or pastry is kneaded and shaped. Molding, or Moulding, machine. (a) (Woodworking) A planing machine for making moldings. ( b ) (Founding) A machine to assist in making molds for castings. Molding, or Moulding, mill, a mill for shaping timber. Molding, or Moulding, sand (Founding), a kind of sand containing clay, used in making molds.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Electric E*lec"tric, Electrical E*lec"tric*al, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr. ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.] 1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. ``Electric Pindar.'' --Mrs. Browning. Electric atmosphere, or Electric aura. See under Aura. Electrical battery. See Battery. Electrical brush. See under Brush. Electric cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Electric candle. See under Candle. Electric cat (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus Malapterurus (esp. M. electricus of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also sheathfish. Electric clock. See under Clock, and see Electro-chronograph. Electric current, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. Electric, or Electrical, eel (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus Gymnotus (G. electricus), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See Gymnotus. Electrical fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See Torpedo, and Gymnotus. Electric fluid, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. Electrical image (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. Electrical light, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. Electric, or Electrical, machine, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. Electric motor. See Electro-motor, 2. Electric osmose. (Physics) See under Osmose. Electric pen, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. Electric railway, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. Electric ray (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. Electric telegraph. See Telegraph.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(machines, machining, machined) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A machine is a piece of equipment which uses electricity or an engine in order to do a particular kind of work. I put the coin in the machine and pulled the lever... ...a color photograph of the sort taken by machine to be pasted in passports. N-COUNT: also by N 2. If you machine something, you make it or work on it using a machine. The material is machined in a factory... All parts are machined from top grade, high tensile aluminium. ...machined brass zinc alloy gears. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, be V-ed from n, V-ed • machining ...our machining, fabrication and finishing processes. 3. You can use machine to refer to a large and well-controlled system or organization. ...Nazi Germany's military machine... He has put the party publicity machine behind another candidate. N-COUNT: usu supp N 4. see also fruit machine, sewing machine, slot machine, vending machine

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Engine, instrument of force. 2. Tool, instrument, puppet. 3. Organization, system. 4. Machinery, supernatural agency.

Moby Thesaurus

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