machination
[mak-uh-ney-shuhn]
- an act or instance of machinating.
- Usually machinations. crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.
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Origin of machination
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
stratagemconspiracyployintriguerusedodgecabalselloutpracticetrickdesignartificedeviceschemeskullduggeryExamples from the Web for machination
Historical Examples
The protest of the church was of no avail to defeat the machination of demagogues.
A History of American ChristianityLeonard Woolsey Bacon
All MacTaggart's anger rose against madame for her machination.
Doom CastleNeil Munro
Disunion is at the bottom of this long-concealed Texas machination.
Thirty Years' View (Vol. II of 2)Thomas Hart Benton
It is pleasant to record that all this match-making and machination came to naught.
Child Life in Colonial DaysAlice Morse Earle
It was not the machination or revenge of a disappointed suitor.
machination
- an intrigue, plot, or scheme
- the act of devising plots or schemes
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for machination
n.
late 15c., "a plotting, intrigue," from Old French machinacion "plot, conspiracy, scheming, intrigue," from Latin machinationem (nominative machinatio) "device, contrivance, machination," noun of action from past participle stem of machinari "contrive skillfully, to design; to scheme, to plot," from machina (see machine). Related: Machinations.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper