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machine: Definition and Much More from Answers.com

  • ️Wed Jul 01 2015

Dictionary:

machine

  

(mə-shēn') pronunciation

n.

    1. A device consisting of fixed and moving parts that modifies mechanical energy and transmits it in a more useful form.
    2. A simple device, such as a lever, a pulley, or an inclined plane, that alters the magnitude or direction, or both, of an applied force; a simple machine.
  2. A system or device for doing work, as an automobile or a jackhammer, together with its power source and auxiliary equipment.
  3. A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task: The machine is down.
  4. An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body.
  5. A person who acts in a rigid, mechanical, or unconscious manner.
  6. An organized group of people whose members are or appear to be under the control of one or more leaders: a political machine.
    1. A device used to produce a stage effect, especially a mechanical means of lowering an actor onto the stage.
    2. A literary device used to produce an effect, especially the introduction of a supernatural being to resolve a plot.
  8. An answering machine: Leave a message on my machine if I'm not home.

adj.

Of, relating to, or felt to resemble a machine: machine repairs; machine politics.

v., -chined, -chin·ing, -chines.

v.tr.

To cut, shape, or finish by machine.

v.intr.

To be cut, shaped, or finished by machine: This metal machines easily.

[French, from Old French, from Latin māchina, from Greek mākhanā, dialectal variant of mēkhanē.]

machinable ma·chin'a·ble adj.
machineless ma·chine'less adj.

Device that amplifies or replaces human or animal effort to accomplish a physical task. A machine may be further defined as a device consisting of two or more parts that transmit or modify force and motion in order to do work. The five simple machines are the lever, the wedge, the wheel and axle, the pulley, and the screw; all complex machines are combinations of these basic devices. The operation of a machine may involve the transformation of chemical, thermal, electrical, or nuclear energy into mechanical energy, or vice versa. All machines have an input, an output, and a transforming or modifying and transmitting device. Machines that receive their input energy from a natural source (such as air currents, moving water, coal, petroleum, or uranium) and transform it into mechanical energy are known as prime movers; examples include windmills, waterwheels, turbines, steam engines, and internal-combustion engines.

For more information on machine, visit Britannica.com.

arrangement of moving and stationary mechanical parts used to perform some useful work or to provide transportation. From a historical perspective, many of the first machines were the result of human efforts to improve war-making capabilities; the term engineer at one time had an exclusively military connotation. In the United States the original colonies were not permitted to make or import machine tools; it was only after the Revolution that the first manufacturing machines were built (c.1790) by Samuel Slater for a textile mill in Pawtucket, R.I.

Types of Machines

By means of a machine an applied force is increased, its direction is changed, or one form of motion or energy is changed into another form. Thus defined, such simple devices as the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw, and the wheel and axle are machines. They are called simple machines; more complicated machines are merely combinations of them. Of the five, the lever, the pulley, and the inclined plane are primary; the wheel and axle and the screw are secondary. The wheel and axle combination is a rotary lever, while the screw may be considered an inclined plane wound around a core. The wedge is a double inclined plane.

Complex machines are designated, as a rule, by the operations they perform; the complicated devices used for sawing, planing, and turning, for example, are known as sawing machines, planing machines, and turning machines respectively and as machine tools collectively. Machines used to transform other forms of energy (as heat) into mechanical energy are known as engines, i.e. the steam engine or the internal-combustion engine. The electric motor transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy. Its operation is the reverse of that of the electric generator, which transforms the energy of falling water or steam into electrical energy.

Mechanical Advantage and Efficiency of Machines

By means of a machine, a small force, or effort, can be applied to move a much greater resistance, or load. In doing so, however, the applied force must move through a much greater distance than it would if it could move the load directly. The mechanical advantage (MA) of a machine is the factor by which it multiplies any applied force. The MA may be calculated from the ratio of the forces involved or from the ratio of the distances through which they move. Ideally, the two ratios are equal, and it is simpler to calculate the ratio of the distance the effort moves to the distance the resistance moves; this is called the ideal mechanical advantage (IMA). In any real machine some of the effort is used to overcome friction. Thus, the ratio of the resistance force to the effort, called the actual mechanical advantage (AMA), is less than the IMA.

The efficiency of any machine measures the degree to which friction and other factors reduce the actual work output of the machine from its theoretical maximum. A frictionless machine would have an efficiency of 100%. A machine with an efficiency of 20% has an output only one fifth of its theoretical output. The efficiency of a machine is equal to the ratio of its output (resistance multiplied by the distance it is moved) to its input (effort multiplied by the distance through which it is exerted); it is also equal to the ratio of the AMA to the IMA. This does not mean that low-efficiency machines are of limited use. An automobile jack, for example, must overcome a great deal of friction and therefore has low efficiency, but it is extremely valuable because small effort can be applied to lift a great weight.

Although most machines are used to multiply an effort so that it may move a greater resistance, they may have other purposes. For example, a single, fixed pulley merely changes the direction of the applied force; the pulley may make it easier to lift the load, since a person can pull down on a rope, thus adding his or her own weight to the effort, rather than simply lifting the load. In a catapult an effort greater than the load moves through a short distance, causing the load to be moved through a large distance before being released. As the load is being moved, it picks up speed so that it is traveling at a considerable velocity when it leaves the catapult.

Essay: The first machines

Simple machines are devices that do nothing but change the direction, duration, or size of a force. The single pulley is the dullest simple machine, changing only direction. Most other simple machines are variations on the lever or the inclined plane -- for example, the wheel and axle (or crank handle) is a rotary lever, the wedge is a pair of inclined planes, and the screw is a helical inclined plane.

Which simple machines were used by early humans? The earliest stone tool is a form of wedge, as are most stone tools. The handle of an axe or hammer is a form of lever, so hafted axe heads (in use by the middle of the Old Stone Age) qualify as simple machines. Other early evidence of thoughtful use of simple machines before Neolithic times is hard to come by. However, it is easy to believe, although difficult to prove, that early humans used levers to turn or lift heavy objects.

An important application of the lever from about 15,000 bp is the spear thrower, or atlatl, an extension of the human arm used to translate a small motion near the shoulder into a large motion near the end of the spear thrower. Since the time of the motion does not change while the length of the motion increases, the result is a higher velocity for the spear thrown. The higher velocity gives the spear greater momentum, useful either for distance or for penetrating power.

Perhaps the most sophisticated simple machine is the compound pulley, in which mechanical advantage is cleverly obtained with no visible levers. The compound pulley appears to have been invented in Hellenistic times, about 200 bce.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - maskine, automat, maskineri
v. tr. - bearbejde, forarbejde, fabrikere
v. intr. - bearbejde, forarbejde
adj. - maskinelt

idioms:

  • life-support machine    respirator, hjerte-lungemaskine
  • machine code    maskinkode
  • machine gun    maskingevær
  • machine language    maskinsprog
  • machine tool    værktøjsmaskine

Nederlands (Dutch)
machine, voertuig (m.n. auto), apparaat, toneelmachine, levend organisme, systeem in levend organisme, organisatie, literair hulpmiddel, machinaal bewerken

Français (French)
n. - machine, (fig) machine
v. tr. - (Ind) usiner, façonner, coudre, ou piquer (à la machine)
v. intr. - (Ind) usiner, façonner, coudre, ou piquer (à la machine)
adj. - façonné, en usine, d'usine

idioms:

  • life-support machine    système/appareil de respiration artificielle
  • machine code    (Comput) code machine
  • machine gun    mitrailleuse
  • machine language    (Comput) langage machine
  • machine tool    machine-outil

Deutsch (German)
n. - Maschine, Apparat
adj. - Maschinen...
v. - maschinell herstellen, maschinell bearbeiten, mit der Maschine nähen

idioms:

  • life-support machine    lebenserhaltende Maschine
  • machine code    (Comp.) Maschinensprache
  • machine gun    Maschinengewehr
  • machine language    (Comp.) Maschinensprache
  • machine tool    Werkzeugmaschine

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μηχανή, μηχάνημα, μηχανισμός
adj. - μηχανικός, της μηχανής

idioms:

  • life-support machine    μηχανική στήριξη ζωής
  • machine code    (Η/Υ) κώδικας μηχανής
  • machine gun    (στρατ.) πολυβόλο
  • machine language    (Η/Υ) γλώσσα μηχανής
  • machine tool    εργαλειομηχανή, μηχανικό εργαλείο

Italiano (Italian)
macchina, apparecchio, dispositivo

idioms:

  • machine code    linguaggio di computer
  • machine gun    mitragliatrice
  • machine language    linguaggio di computer
  • machine tool    macchina utensile

Português (Portuguese)
n. - máquina (f), autômato (m), automóvel (m)
adj. - mecânico

idioms:

  • life-support machine    equipamento que mantém a pessoa viva (m)
  • machine code    código de máquina (m) (Comp.)
  • machine gun    metralhadora (f)
  • machine language    linguagem de máquina (f) (Comp.)
  • machine tool    máquina operatriz (f) (Comp.)

Русский (Russian)
машина, механизм, станок, транспортное средство, обрабатывать на станке

idioms:

  • life-support machine    система поддержания жизнедеятельности организма
  • machine code    язык программирования, который определенный тип компьютера может читать
  • machine gun    пулемет, вести огонь из пулемета
  • machine language    машинный язык
  • machine tool    станок

Español (Spanish)
n. - máquina, motor, locomotora, aparato, tramoya, maquinaria, mecanismo, máquina expendedora
v. tr. - trabajar a máquina, tornear
v. intr. - trabajar a máquina
adj. - de máquina o motor

idioms:

  • life-support machine    sistema de respiración artificial
  • machine code    código de máquina
  • machine gun    ametralladora
  • machine language    lenguaje de computadora
  • machine tool    máquina herramienta

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - maskin, maskineri
adj. - maskinell

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
机器, 计算机, 机械, 汽车, 以机器制造, 用机器加工, 机器的, 机械的, 机器加工的, 机器制造的

idioms:

  • life-support machine    航天员等的生命维持系统, 生命保障系统
  • machine code    机器代码
  • machine gun    机关枪
  • machine language    机械语言, 计算机语言, 实体指示
  • machine tool    机床, 工具机

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 機器, 電腦, 機械, 汽車
v. tr. - 以機器製造
v. intr. - 用機器加工
adj. - 機器的, 機械的, 機器加工的, 機器製造的

idioms:

  • life-support machine    太空人等的生命維持系統, 生命保障系統
  • machine code    機器代碼
  • machine gun    機關槍
  • machine language    機械語言, 電腦語言, 實體指示
  • machine tool    機床, 工具機

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 기계, 기계적으로 일하는 사람
v. tr. - ~을 기계로 만들다, ~을 재봉틀에 걸다, ~을 규격화하다
v. intr. - 기계로 절단될 수 있다
adj. - 기계의, 기계적인, 간부에 의한, 흑막의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 機械, 自動車, 黒幕, 幹部グループ, 組織, 機械のような人間
v. - 機械で作る, 印刷機にかける

idioms:

  • answering machine    留守番電話
  • dictating machine    口述録音機
  • life-support machine    生命維持装置
  • machine code    マシンコード, 機械語
  • machine gun    機関銃
  • machine language    機械語
  • machine tool    工作機械

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) آله (صفه) آلي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מכונה, רובוט, מנגנון (של אירגון), אוטומט המופעל ע"י מטבע, אדם הפועל מכנית, ללא רגשות‬
v. tr. - ‮ייצר במכונה‬
v. intr. - ‮תיקן או תגמר במכונה‬
adj. - ‮מכני‬

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