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.
The brilliant “elephant,” lumbering and impressive like its African namesake, is an infernal machine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2022
The only way to escape is to run faster than the infernal machine forces those stuck on it — but most Americans lack the strength and endurance to do so.
From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2021
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
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.
