machine

Definitions

1. 1.Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. Dryden. Southey. Thackeray.
2. 2.A person who acts mechanically or at will of another.
3. 3.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.
4. 4.A political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends. [Political Cant]
5. 5.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.
6. 6.To subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "machine" mean?
• What is another word for "machine"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is machine.

• What is any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. Dryden. Southey. Thackeray called?
• What is a person who acts mechanically or at will of another called?
• What is a political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends. [Political Cant] called?
• What is to subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine called?