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machine |
6 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Machine \Ma*chine"\, n. [F., fr L. machina machine, engine, device, trick, Gr ?, from ? means expedient. Cf {Mechanic}.] 1. In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion from a prime mover or from another machine, and transmit, modify, and apply them to the production of some desired mechanical effect or work as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine. Note: The term machine is most commonly applied to such pieces of mechanism as are used in the industrial arts, for mechanically shaping, dressing, and combining materials for various purposes, as in the manufacture of cloth, etc Where the effect is chemical, or other than mechanical, the contrivance is usually denominated an apparatus, not a machine; as a bleaching apparatus. Many large powerful, or specially important pieces of mechanism are called engines; as a steam engine, fire engine, graduating engine, etc Although there is no well-settled distinction between the terms engine and machine among practical men, there is a tendency to restrict the application of the former to contrivances in which the operating part is not distinct from the motor. 2. Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. --Dryden. --Southey. --Thackeray. 3. A person who acts mechanically or at will of another. 4. A combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use as the social machine. The whole machine of government ought not to bear upon the people with a weight so heavy and oppressive. --Landor. 5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends [Political Cant] 6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit. --Addison. {Elementary machine}, a name sometimes given to one of the simple mechanical powers. See under {Mechanical}. {Infernal machine}. See under {Infernal}. {Machine gun}.See under {Gun.} {Machine screw}, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into metal, in distinction from one which is designed especially to be screwed into wood. {Machine shop}, a workshop where machines are made or where metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc {Machine tool}, a machine for cutting or shaping wood, metal, etc., by means of a tool; especially, a machine, as a lathe, planer, drilling machine, etc., designed for a more or less general use in a machine shop, in distinction from a machine for producing a special article as in manufacturing. {Machine twist}, silken thread especially adapted for use in a sewing machine. {Machine work}, work done by a machine, in contradistinction to that done by hand labor. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Machine \Ma*chine"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Machined}; p. pr & vb n. {Machining}.] To subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Molding \Mold"ing\, Moulding \Mould"ing\, p.a. Used in making a mold or moldings; used in shaping anything according to a pattern. {Molding, or Moulding}, {board}. a See {Follow board}, under {Follow}, v. t. b A board on which bread or pastry is kneaded and shaped. {Molding, or Moulding}, {machine}. a (Woodworking) A planing machine for making moldings. ( b ) (Founding) A machine to assist in making molds for castings. {Molding, or Moulding}, {mill}, a mill for shaping timber. {Molding, or Moulding}, {sand} (Founding), a kind of sand containing clay, used in making molds. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Electric \E*lec"tric\, Electrical \E*lec"tric*al\, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.] 1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of containing, derived from or produced by electricity; as electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. ``Electric Pindar.'' --Mrs. Browning. {Electric atmosphere}, or {Electric aura}. See under {Aura}. {Electrical battery}. See {Battery}. {Electrical brush}. See under {Brush}. {Electric cable}. See {Telegraph cable}, under {Telegraph}. {Electric candle}. See under {Candle}. {Electric cat} (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus {Malapterurus} (esp. {M. electricus} of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also {sheathfish}. {Electric clock}. See under {Clock}, and see {Electro-chronograph}. {Electric current}, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. {Electric, or Electrical}, {eel} (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus {Gymnotus} ({G. electricus}), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See {Gymnotus}. {Electrical fish} (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See {Torpedo}, and {Gymnotus}. {Electric fluid}, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. {Electrical image} (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. {Electrical light}, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it See under {Carbon}. {Electric, or Electrical}, {machine}, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. {Electric motor}. See {Electro-motor}, 2. {Electric osmose}. (Physics) See under {Osmose}. {Electric pen}, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. {Electric railway}, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. {Electric ray} (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. {Electric telegraph}. See {Telegraph}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: machine n 1: any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks 2: an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently; "the war machine" 3: an efficient person; "the boxer was a magnificent fighting machine" 4: 4-wheeled motor vehicle; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine; "he needs a car to get to work" [syn: {car}, {auto}, {automobile}, {motorcar}] 5: a group that controls the activities of a political party; "he was endorsed by the Democratic machine" [syn: {political machine}] 6: a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point [syn: {simple machine}] v 1: turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery 2: make by machinery From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: machine Common term for "computer", usually when considered at the hardware level. The {Turing Machine}, an early example of this usage, was however neither hardware nor software, but only an idea. [Earlier use?] (1995-02-15)
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