Machine Məˈʃiːn Human Work Power Noun Replaced Labour

• machines have replaced human labour in many industries.
• to operate/run a machine
• how does this machine work?
• a washing/sewing machine

machine

1. a piece of equipment with many parts that work together to do a particular task. The power used to work a machine may be electricity, steam, gas, etc. or human power.
• SEE ALSO answering machine
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/answering-machine
• Machines have replaced human labour in many industries.
• to operate/run a machine
• How does this machine work?
• a washing/sewing machine
• a machine for making plastic toys
• They have installed a new coffee machine in the staff room.
• to invent/design a machine
• In the factory he oversees 14 teams of machine operators.
• The potatoes are planted by machine.

Extra Examples

• The machine runs on solar power.
• What make of machine are they using?
• The machine is designed to fit under a counter.
• Treadmills and other exercise machines help residents to keep fit.
• Machine parts may need to be replaced.
2. a computer
• The new machines will be shipped next month.
• We build machines that process data.
• All machines are connected online to reach specialists in Germany.
3. a particular machine, for example in the home, when you do not refer to it by its full name
• Just put those clothes in the machine (= the washing machine).
• Is the machine working again?
4. an organized system for achieving something and the people who control it
• SEE ALSO war machine (1)
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/war-machine#warmachine_sng_1
• the president’s propaganda machine
• He played the Republican political machine to get himself into power.
• These years saw a massive growth in the US military machine.
• Hollywood’s slick public relations machine has produced a new improved model of a young movie star.

Extra Examples

• The independent candidates did not have the support of a party machine.
• Tired of being a tiny cog in a vast machine, he handed in his resignation.
5. a person who acts without thinking and without allowing their feelings to show or to affect their work
• SEE ALSO mechanical
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mechanical
• In this movie he plays a lean, mean killing machine.
• He was the perfect fighting machine with a total disregard for his own personal safety.
• This guy is as good as it gets ﹘﹘he's a machine on assignment!
6. a person who is a small part of a large organization

Word Origin

• mid 16th cent. (originally denoting a structure): from French, via Latin from Doric Greek makhana (Greek mēkhanē, from mēkhos ‘contrivance’).