Definition of "machine" in English

noun

1. A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.

2. (dated) A vehicle operated mechanically, such as an automobile or an airplane.

3. (telephony, abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.

   • I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.

4. (computing) A computer.

   • Game developers assume they're pushing the limits of the machine.
   • He refuses to turn off his Linux 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.
   • The government has become a money-making machine.

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.

7. (poetry) Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.

8. (politics, chiefly US) The system of special interest groups that supports a political party, especially in urban areas.

9. (euphemistic, obsolete) Penis.

10. (historical) A contrivance in the Ancient Greek theatre for indicating a change of scene, by means of which a god might cross the stage or deliver a divine message; the deus ex machina.

11. (obsolete) A bathing machine.

verb

1. To make by machinery.

2. To shape or finish by machinery; (usually, more specifically) to shape subtractively by metal-cutting with machine-controlled toolpaths.