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calculating machine

American  

noun

  1. calculator.


Etymology

Origin of calculating machine

First recorded in 1700–10

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.

Subsequently striking up a friendship with Charles Babbage, an inventor and mechanical engineer, Lovelace would become fascinated with his plans to build a complicated calculating machine.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

Christie's said Wednesday it was suspending the Paris auction of one of just a handful of examples of the world's first calculating machine, developed by French mathematician and inventor Blaise Pascal in 1642.

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

One of the central researchers in the early years of Antikythera research was German philologist Albert Rehm, the first person to understand the mechanism as a calculating machine.

From Scientific American • Dec. 14, 2021

“Get the girl,” the astronaut had said, refusing to fly unless Johnson, with her mastery of mathematics, had verified the computer’s work on her mechanical calculating machine.

From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2020

In the West Area computing office where Dorothy was beginning work, the members of the calculating machine symphony hailed from the Virginia State College for Negroes, and Arkansas AM&N, and Hampton Institute.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly