Meaning & use
machine
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Meanings
nouncountable
A device with moving parts that uses power to do a job, usually making work easier or faster.
Grammar: Countable: a machine, many machines. Specific kinds are often named first: washing machine.
Patterns
- operate a machine
- a machine for something
The factory bought a new machine for cutting steel.
She loaded the clothes into the washing machine.
This machine can print a hundred pages a minute.
nouncountableinformalcomputing
A computer or similar electronic device, especially one running a particular program.
Grammar: Informal when used for computers: my machine is slow.
Patterns
- run on a machine
My old machine crashes whenever I open two programs.
The software runs on any machine with enough memory.
He rebooted the machine and tried again.
nouncountablefigurativeinformal
A person who works or acts like a device, without feeling, or does a task with great efficiency.
Grammar: Often a compliment about stamina or skill: she is a machine.
Patterns
- a machine at something
- like a machine
The goalkeeper is a machine; he never makes mistakes.
She finished the marathon like a machine.
Some critics called the champion a machine with no emotion.
nouncountablefigurative
A tightly organized group, especially in politics, that controls power and resources efficiently.
Grammar: Often used with a modifier: the political machine, the party machine.
Patterns
- the political machine
- the party machine
The city was run by a powerful political machine for decades.
The campaign machine sent volunteers door to door.
The company's PR machine responded within minutes.
verbtransitivetechnical
To shape or cut a material, such as metal, using a machine tool.
Grammar: Takes an object: machine a part.
Patterns
- machine something from something
The worker machined the part from solid steel.
The engine block is machined to exact sizes.
They machine each piece to within a hair's width.
Word forms
| plural | machines |
|---|---|
| third person singular | machines |
| past tense | machined |
| past participle | machined |
| -ing form | machining |
Common combinations
- washing machine
- The washing machine finished its cycle.
- operate a machine
- Workers must be trained to operate the machine.
- machine learning
- Machine learning helps phones recognize faces.
- vending machine
- He bought a snack from the vending machine.
- political machine
- The mayor relied on a political machine to win.
Synonyms and how they differ
- device
- Device is broader and can be small or simple, whereas machine suggests moving parts and real power.
- appliance
- Appliance is a machine for use at home, like a toaster, so it is narrower than machine.
- apparatus
- Apparatus is a formal word for a set of equipment, often scientific or sports, rather than a single working machine.
- engine
- An engine specifically turns fuel or energy into movement, while a machine is any such device.
Opposites
Word family
- machinery noun
- machines as a group, or their working parts
- mechanical adjective
- relating to machines, or done without thought
- machinist noun
- a person who operates machine tools
- machining noun
- the process of shaping material with machine tools
Commonly confused: machine or machinery?
machine vs machinery
Machinery is an uncountable noun for machines in general, so you say a machine but machinery is never plural.
Practice
Which sentence uses machine in the figurative sense of a well-organized political group?
Choose one answer.
A party machine is an organized group that gets results. The other options all refer to physical devices.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “machine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.