Machining

ma·chine  (m-shn)

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.

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[French, from Old French, from Latin mchina, from Greek mkhan, dialectal variant of mkhan; see magh- in Indo-European roots.]

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ma·china·ble adj.

ma·chineless adj.