machinery
Americannoun
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an assemblage of machines or mechanical apparatuses.
the machinery of a factory.
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the parts of a machine, collectively.
the machinery of a watch.
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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
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a group of contrivances for producing stage effects.
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the group or aggregate of literary machines, especially those of supernatural agency epic machinery in an epic poem.
noun
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machines, machine parts, or machine systems collectively
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a particular machine system or set of machines
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a system similar to a machine
the machinery of government
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literary devices used for effect in epic poetry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of machinery
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.
Vocabulary lists containing machinery
Engineering - Introductory
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Mechanical Engineering
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Engineering - Middle School
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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 company, based in Vionnaz in the southwest, has relocated part of its production to China, but has retained high-value-added machinery in Switzerland.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
Tractor brands like Case IH pay handsomely to have their machinery featured on the Welkers’ channel.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
Finlay highlighted the rising price of agricultural machinery, making it "more theft-attractive".
From BBC • May 30, 2026
These includes fortifying homes against wildfires, replanting fire-ravaged forests and thinning out vegetation with prescribed burns, goat grazing and manual thinning with heavy machinery to reduce the intensity of potential fires.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
Farther on is a general store with a mechanic’s garage by it, tho I don’t see much by way of heavy machinery around.
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
