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machine

 - 4 dictionary results
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ma⋅chine

  [muh-sheen] noun, verb, -chined, -chin⋅ing.
Use machine in a Sentence
–noun
1. an apparatus consisting of interrelated parts with separate functions, used in the performance of some kind of work: a sewing machine.
2. a mechanical apparatus or contrivance; mechanism.
3. Mechanics.
a. a device that transmits or modifies force or motion.
b. Also called simple machine. any of six or more elementary mechanisms, as the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, wedge, and inclined plane.
c. Also called complex machine. a combination of simple machines.
4. Older Use.
a. an automobile or airplane.
b. a typewriter.
5. a bicycle or motorcycle.
6. a vending machine: a cigarette machine.
7. any complex agency or operating system: the machine of government.
8. 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.
9. 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, esp. 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)
12. to make, prepare, or finish with a machine or with machine tools.
Origin:
1540–50; < F < L māchina < Doric Gk māchan pulley, akin to mâchos contrivance; cf. mechanic

Related forms:
ma⋅chine⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Machine
Shop for Cuisinart electrics and more online at Horchow.com.
www.Horchow.com
Machine Upgrades
For Pharmaceutical, Converting Packaging, Non-Wovens, Printing
www.jrcweb.com
ma·chine   (mə-shēn')   
n.  

    1. A device consisting of fixed and moving parts that modifies mechanical energy and transmits it in a more useful form.

    2. 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.

    3. A device used to produce a stage effect, especially a mechanical means of lowering an actor onto the stage.

    4. A literary device used to produce an effect, especially the introduction of a supernatural being to resolve a plot.

  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.

    1. A device used to produce a stage effect, especially a mechanical means of lowering an actor onto the stage.

    2. A literary device used to produce an effect, especially the introduction of a supernatural being to resolve a plot.

  8. An answering machine: Leave a message on my machine if I'm not home.

adj.  Of, relating to, or felt to resemble a machine: machine repairs; machine politics.
v.   ma·chined, ma·chin·ing, ma·chines

v.   tr.
To cut, shape, or finish by machine.
v.   intr.
To be cut, shaped, or finished by machine: This metal machines easily.

[French, from Old French, from Latin māchina, from Greek mākhanā, dialectal variant of mēkhanē; see magh- in Indo-European roots.]
ma·chin'a·ble adj., ma·chine'less adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

machine 
1549, "structure of any kind," from M.Fr. machine "device, contrivance," from L. machina "machine, engine, fabric, frame, device, trick" (cf. Sp. maquina, It. macchina), from Gk. makhana, Doric variant of mekhane "device, means," related to mekhos "means, expedient, contrivance," from PIE *maghana- "that which enables," from base *magh- "to be able, have power" (cf. O.C.S. mogo "be able," O.E. mæg "I can;" see might). Main modern sense of "device made of moving parts for applying mechanical power" (1673) probably grew out of 17c. senses of "apparatus, appliance" (1650) and "military siege-tower" (1656). In late 19c. slang the word was used for both "penis" and "vagina," one of the very few to be so honored. Political sense is U.S. slang, first recorded 1876. Machinery (1687) was originally theatrical, "devices for creating stage effects;" meaning "machines collectively" is attested from 1731. Machine Age (1922) was coined by Lewis Mumford. Machine-gun is first attested 1870; the verb is from 1915. Machine for living (in) "house" translates Le Corbusier's machine à habiter (1923).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

machine
Common term for "computer", usually when considered at the hardware level. The Turing Machine, an early example of this usage, was however neither hardware nor software, but only an idea.
[Earlier use?]
(1995-02-15)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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