machinery

[ muh-shee-nuh-ree ]
See synonyms for machinery on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural ma·chin·er·ies.
  1. an assemblage of machines or mechanical apparatuses: the machinery of a factory.

  2. the parts of a machine, collectively: the machinery of a watch.

  1. a group of people or a system by which action is maintained or by which some result is obtained: the machinery of government.

  2. a group of contrivances for producing stage effects.

  3. the group or aggregate of literary machines, especially those of supernatural agency (epic machinery ) in an epic poem.

Origin of machinery

1
First recorded in 1680–90; machine + -ery

Other words for machinery

Other words from machinery

  • an·ti·ma·chin·er·y, adjective

Words Nearby machinery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use machinery in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for machinery

machinery

/ (məˈʃiːnərɪ) /


nounplural -eries
  1. machines, machine parts, or machine systems collectively

  2. a particular machine system or set of machines

  1. a system similar to a machine: the machinery of government

  2. literary devices used for effect in epic poetry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012