machinery

American  

[muh-shee-nuh-ree] / məˈʃi nə ri /

noun

• machineries
  plural

1. an assemblage of machines or mechanical apparatuses.

   the machinery of a factory.

2. the parts of a machine, collectively.

   the machinery of a watch.

3. a group of people or a system by which action is maintained or by which some result is obtained.

   the machinery of government.

   Synonyms:

   setup, structure, organization

4. a group of contrivances for producing stage effects.

5. the group or aggregate of literary machines, especially those of supernatural agency epic machinery in an epic poem.

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machinery British  

/ məˈʃiːnərɪ /

noun

1. machines, machine parts, or machine systems collectively

2. a particular machine system or set of machines

3. a system similar to a machine

   the machinery of government

4. literary devices used for effect in epic poetry

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antimachinery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• machineries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of machinery

First recorded in 1680–90; machine + -ery

Explanation

Machinery refers to specific machines or machines in general. A farmer has lots of farm machinery, like tractors and plows. Machinery is also the inner workings of something — the machinery of a society is how a society works. You can refer to a group of machines as machinery, such as the machinery in a factory or the machinery in a laboratory. It’s also the inner workings of a particular machine, like the machinery that keeps your computer running. Machinery has to do with how something works or functions. The government, media, business, and family are all part of the machinery of society. The word machinery originally referred to the devices used for creating stage effects in the theater.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

machinery machineries

In the most devastated areas, workers are using heavy machinery to remove pieces of roofs and walls.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

It comes as the party prepares to publish its 50-page plan on Monday for what Jenrick described as the "most comprehensive redesign of the welfare system's machinery in a generation".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Meanwhile, there was a larger trade surplus in chemicals and in machinery and vehicles, the data showed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The document has the typography of law and none of its machinery: no adverseness, no authority, no statutory vehicle, no second signature.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

Traffic would be heavy on the bridge due to an accident, and because we were paid for travel time, we'd hope that the pileup involved at least one piece of heavy machinery.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

For pathogens that escape this process, it is commonly thought that those pathogens must release a "secret arsenal" to "paralyze" the degradative machineries in the cell.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2023

"Despite the seasonal factor of summer vacations, the trade balance remained in surplus on robust exports of major products, such as automobiles and machineries, and an improvement in semiconductor exports," Trade Minister Lee Chang-yang said.

From Reuters ● Sep. 1, 2023

Export growth of machineries and hi-tech products were strong.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 7, 2021

Something is broken in our system if the machineries of war endure all strategies and policy changes, if only for the sake of enduring.

From New York Times ● Dec. 29, 2018

It is all clangings and bangings as tiles are spat out by big machineries onto what is called a conveyor belt.

From "Beast Rider" by Tony Johnston & María Elena Fontanot de Rhoads

Related Words

• apparatus
• appliance
• engine
• equipment
• gear
• instrument
• motor
• system
• tool
• utensil
• vehicle