machine
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
muhsheenSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
məˈʃin
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
A group that controls the activities of a political party
“He was endorsed by the Democratic machine.”
computing
A computer.
figuratively
A person or organisation that seemingly acts like a machine, being particularly efficient, single-minded, or unemotional.
“The boxer was a magnificent fighting machine.”
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.
verb
To shape or finish by machinery; (usually, more specifically) to shape subtractively by metal-cutting with machine-controlled toolpaths.
Make by machinery
“The Americans were machining while others still hand-made cars.”
Turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
Used this way, machine is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Controlsnoun
“He was endorsed by the Democratic machine.”
Organisationnoun
“The boxer was a magnificent fighting machine.”
Makeverb
“The Americans were machining while others still hand-made cars.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A craftsman skilled in operating machine tools.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Electronic text that is stored and used in the form of a digital image.
A rapidly firing automatic gun (often mounted).
A serviceman in the artillery.
A programming language designed for use on a specific class of computers.
Made by machine.
An elementary operation that a computer is designed and built to perform.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Machines or machine systems collectively.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.