machines

Noun

machine (plural machines)

1. A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
   • An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
2. (dated) A vehicle operated mechanically, such as an automobile or an airplane.
   • As he stood directly beneath a brilliant arc light, waiting for a limousine that was approaching to pass him, he heard his name called in a sweet feminine voice. Looking up, he met the smiling eyes of Olga de Coude as she leaned forward upon the back seat of the machine. He bowed very low in...1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “What Happened in the Rue Maule”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, pages 40–41
3. (abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.
   • I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.
4. A computer.
   • Game developers assume they're pushing the limits of the machine.
5. (figuratively) A person or organisation that seemingly acts like a machine, being particularly efficient, single-minded, or unemotional.
   • Bruce Campbell was a "demon-killing machine" because he made quick work of killing demons.
6. Especially, the group that controls a political or similar organization; a combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use.
   • The whole machine of government, civil and religious, ought never to bear upon the people with a weight so oppressive1828, Walter Savage Landor, “Rousseau and Malesherbes”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC

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