simple machine

American  

noun

Mechanics.

1. machine.

---

simple machine British  

noun

1. a simple device for altering the magnitude or direction of a force. The six basic types are the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, wedge, and inclined plane

---

simple machine Scientific  

1. See under machine

---

Etymology

Origin of simple machine

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Henry Ford’s Model T, by contrast, was a crude but ingeniously simple machine.

From The Wall Street Journal

The phenomenon is known as emergent intelligence—when simple machines, following only a few local cues, begin to organize and act as if they share a mind.

From The Wall Street Journal

The pages were filled with his handwritten notes and hand-drawn diagrams about raising livestock and growing crops and building barns, about working the land with the help of strong animals and simple machines.

From Literature

First, the messages that she worked on came from a relatively simple machine.

From Scientific American

The researchers said that their method had succeeded by following a relatively simple machine learning approach.

From Science Daily