Ma*chine" , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Machined (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Machining.]
To subject to
the action of machinery; to effect by
aid of machinery; to print with a
printing machine.
Ma*chine" (m&adot;*shēn"), n. [F., fr. L. machina machine, engine, device, trick, Gr. &?;, from &?; means, expedient.
Cf. 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.
&fist; 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 the 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.
Hear it pronounced