infernal machine
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of infernal machine
First recorded in 1800–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her right hand, fingers curled, rests on the infernal machine, while her left hand is open on the windowsill.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2025
But Klein isn’t that wild and extravagant; “Resolving Hedda” is more like an engineering project, an experiment to see whether the doomed Hedda can escape Ibsen’s infernal machine.
From Washington Post • Mar. 25, 2019
He needs others to work the levers of his infernal machine.
From Salon • Jul. 13, 2018
It’s also been called the Rube Goldberg effect –– where you see the world as an infernal machine.
From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2011
“What is wrong with this infernal machine? And now another interruption! Where is that voice coming from?”
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
