ma·chine (m -sh n )n. 1. a. A device consisting of fixed and moving parts that modifies mechanical energy and transmits it in a more useful form. b. A simple device, such as a lever, a pulley, or an inclined plane, that alters the magnitude or direction, or both, of an applied force; a simple machine. 2. A system or device for doing work, as an automobile or a jackhammer, together with its power source and auxiliary equipment. 3. A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task: The machine is down. 4. An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body. 5. A person who acts in a rigid, mechanical, or unconscious manner. 6. An organized group of people whose members are or appear to be under the control of one or more leaders: a political machine. 7. a. A device used to produce a stage effect, especially a mechanical means of lowering an actor onto the stage. b. A literary device used to produce an effect, especially the introduction of a supernatural being to resolve a plot. 8. An answering machine: Leave a message on my machine if I'm not home. adj. Of, relating to, or felt to resemble a machine: machine repairs; machine politics. v. ma·chined, ma·chin·ing, ma·chines v.tr. To cut, shape, or finish by machine. v.intr. To be cut, shaped, or finished by machine: This metal machines easily. [French, from Old French, from Latin m  china, from Greek mkhan, dialectal variant of mkhan; see magh- in Indo-European roots.]ma·chin a·ble adj.ma·chine less adj. |
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