MACHINES
Noun
machines
plural of machine
Verb
machines
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of machine
Source: Wiktionary
MACHINE
Ma*chine", n. Etym: [F., fr. L. machina machine, engine, device,
trick, Gr. 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.
Ma*chine", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Machined; p. pr. & vb. n. Machining.]
Definition: 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