What does "machine" mean?
A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
Machine
/məˈʃiːn/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
- Grammar: machine is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: addressing machine, alembic, alliance, american party.
- Useful contrasts: calculator, computer, computers.
- Usage evidence: The brain is just a complicated machine.
How to use "machine"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "machine" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "machine" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "machine" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "machine" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "machine" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "addressing machine" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "machine", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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."
- 2 a motor vehicle with four wheels; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine wordnet
- 3 A vehicle operated mechanically, such as an automobile or an airplane. dated
"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 response to her friendly greeting. When he straightened up the machine had borne her away."
- 4 any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks wordnet
- 5 An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail. abbreviation
"I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine."
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point wordnet
- 7 A computer.
"Game developers assume they're pushing the limits of the machine."
- 8 a group that controls the activities of a political party wordnet
- 9 A person or organisation that seemingly acts like a machine, being particularly efficient, single-minded, or unemotional. figuratively
"Bruce Campbell was a "demon-killing machine" because he made quick work of killing demons."
- 10 an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently wordnet
- 11 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 oppressive"
- 12 an efficient person wordnet
- 13 Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.
"I am apt to think, that the changing of the Trojan fleet into water-nymphs, which is the most violent machine in the whole Æneid[…]"
- 14 The system of special interest groups that supports a political party, especially in urban areas. US
"A machine politician cannot see why the straight ticket (as he and his clique of party bosses prepare it) should not be voted by every citizen belonging to that party."
- 15 Penis. euphemistic, obsolete
"He now reſumes his attempts in more form: firſt he put one of the pillows under me, to give the blank of his aim a more favourable elevation, and another under my head, in eaſe of it: then ſpreading my thighs, and placing himſelf ſtanding between them, made them reſt upon his hips: applying then the point of his machine to the ſlit, into which he ſought entrance;"
- 16 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. historical
- 17 A bathing machine. obsolete
"One Machine only was provided for Bathers, the Limitted smoothness of the sands not extending widely enough to admit another."
Verb
- 1 To make by machinery.
- 2 make by machinery wordnet
- 3 To shape or finish by machinery; (usually, more specifically) to shape subtractively by metal-cutting with machine-controlled toolpaths.
"Engineering materials have been recently developed whose hardness and strength are considerably increased, such that the cutting speed and the MRR tend to fall when machining such materials using traditional methods like turning, milling, grinding, and so on."
- 4 turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"The brain is just a complicated machine."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "machine"?
Common synonyms include: addressing machine, alembic, alliance, american party, anti-monopoly party, anvil.
How do you use "machine" in a sentence?
The brain is just a complicated machine.
How do you pronounce "machine"?
Pronounced /məˈʃiːn/.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”), from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhănā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”), from which comes mechanical. Displaced native Old English searu.