machine
machine
(mə-shēnʹ) noun
Abbr. mach.
1.
a. A device consisting of fixed and moving parts that modifies mechanical energy and transmits it in a more useful form. b. A simple device, such as a lever, a pulley, or an inclined plane, that alters the magnitude or direction, or both, of an applied force; a simple machine.
2. A system or device for doing work, as an automobile or a jackhammer, together with its power source and auxiliary equipment.
3. A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task: The machine is down.
4. An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body.
5. A person who acts in a rigid, mechanical, or unconscious manner.
6. An organized group of people whose members are or appear to be under the control of one or more leaders: a political machine.
7. a. A device used to produce a stage effect, especially a mechanical means of lowering an actor onto the stage. b. A literary device used to produce an effect, especially the introduction of a supernatural being to resolve a plot.
adjective
Of, relating to, or felt to resemble a machine: machine repairs; machine politics.
verb
machined
, machining, machines
verb
, transitive
To cut, shape, or finish by machine.
verb
, intransitive
To be cut, shaped, or finished by machine: This metal machines easily.
[French, from Old French, from Latin māchina, from Greek mēkhanē, makhana.]
machin
ʹable adjective
machine
ʹless adjective