What is "machine"

Machine \Ma*chine"\ (m[.a]*sh[=e]n"), n. [F., fr. L. machina machine, engine, device, trick, Gr. ?, from ? means, expedient. Cf. Mechanic.]

1. In general, any combination of bodies so connected that their relative motions are constrained, and by means of which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a construction, more or less complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their supports and connecting framework, calculated to constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion from a prime mover or from another machine, and transmit, modify, and apply them to the production of some desired mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine.

   Note: The term machine is most commonly applied to such pieces of mechanism as are used in the industrial arts, for mechanically shaping, dressing, and combining materials for various purposes, as in the manufacture of cloth, etc. Where the effect is chemical, or other than mechanical, the contrivance is usually denominated an apparatus or device, not a machine; as, a bleaching apparatus. Many large, powerful, or specially important pieces of mechanism are called engines; as, a steam engine, fire engine, graduating engine, etc. Although there is no well-settled distinction between the terms engine and machine among practical men, there is a tendency to restrict the application of the former to contrivances in which the operating part is not distinct from the motor.

2. Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle.
   --Dryden.
   --Southey.
   --Thackeray.

3. A person who acts mechanically or at the will of another.

4. A combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use; as, the social machine.

   The whole machine of government ought not to bear upon the people with a weight so heavy and oppressive.
   --Landor.

5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends; the Tammany machine. [Political Cant]

6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.
   --Addison.

   Elementary machine, a name sometimes given to one of the simple mechanical powers. See under Mechanical.

   Infernal machine. See under Infernal.

   Machine gun.See under Gun.

   Machine screw, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into metal, in distinction from one which is designed especially to be screwed into wood.

   Machine shop, a workshop where machines are made, or where metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc.

   Machine tool, a machine for cutting or shaping wood, metal, etc., by means of a tool; especially, a machine, as a lathe, planer, drilling machine, etc., designed for a more or less general use in a machine shop, in distinction from a machine for producing a special article as in manufacturing.

   Machine twist, silken thread especially adapted for use in a sewing machine.

   Machine work, work done by a machine, in contradistinction to that done by hand labor.

Machine \Ma*chine"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Machined; p. pr. & vb. n. Machining.] To subject to the action of machinery; to make, cut, shape, or modify with a machine; to effect by aid of machinery; to print with a printing machine.

1540s, "structure of any kind," from Middle French machine "device, contrivance," from Latin machina "machine, engine, military machine; device, trick; instrument" (source also of Spanish maquina, Italian macchina), from Greek makhana, Doric variant of mekhane "device, means," related to mekhos "means, expedient, contrivance," from PIE *maghana- "that which enables," from root *magh- (1) "to be able, have power" (cognates: Old Church Slavonic mogo "be able," Old English mæg "I can;" see may (v.)).\n

\nMain modern sense of "device made of moving parts for applying mechanical power" (1670s) probably grew out of mid-17c. senses of "apparatus, appliance" and "military siege-tower." In late 19c. slang the word was used for both "penis" and "vagina," one of the few so honored. Political sense is U.S. slang, first recorded 1876. Machine age is attested by 1851:\n\nThe idea of remodelling society at public meetings is one of the least reasonable which ever entered the mind of an agitator: and the notion that the relations of the sexes can be re-arranged and finally disposed of by preamble and resolution, is one of the latest, as it should have been the last, vagary of a machine age.

["The Literary World," Nov. 1, 1851]

mid-15c., "decide, resolve," from Old French and Latin usages (see machine (n.)). Related: Machined; machining. Meaning "to make or form on a machine" is from 1878. Related: Machined; machining.\n

n. A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect. vb. 1 to make by machinery. 2 to shape or finish by machinery.

1. v. turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery

2. make by machinery; "The Americans were machining while others still hand-made cars"

1. n. any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks

2. an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals efficiently; "the war machine"

3. an efficient person; "the boxer was a magnificent fighting machine"

4. 4-wheeled motor vehicle; usually propelled by an internal combustion engine; "he needs a car to get to work" [syn: car, auto, automobile, motorcar]

5. a group that controls the activities of a political party; "he was endorsed by the Democratic machine" [syn: political machine]

6. a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying force at some other point [syn: simple machine]

Machine is the second studio album from the American industrial metal band Static-X, released on May 22, 2001, and recorded at Studio 508 ( Los Angeles, California). When compared to the band's other albums, Machine features more electronics and industrial effects, and more screamed vocals from Wayne Static.

Machine is an EP by the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was released in 2002 by Touch and Go Records, and contains three songs from the Fever to Tell sessions. From this EP came one single, "Machine", which was released only in the UK.

A machine is a tool containing one or more parts that uses energy to perform an intended action. Machines are usually powered by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or electrical means, and are often motorized. Historically, a power tool also required moving parts to classify as a machine. However, the advent of electronics has led to the development of power tools without moving parts that are considered machines.

A simple machine is a device that simply transforms the direction or magnitude of a force, but a large number of more complex machines exist. Examples include vehicles, electronic systems, molecular machines, computers, television, and radio.

Machine was an American funk disco group, formed by Jay Stovall in 1977. The band started in New York City with the intent to create the disco equivalent of R&B message songs.

The band released its self-titled debut album in 1979, which produced its most famous single "There But for the Grace of God Go I". The song describes two Latino parents named Carlos and Carmen Vidal who move out of the Bronx to protect their baby daughter. In their new surroundings, their daughter is cut off from her own heritage and becomes self-destructive from the Vidals' cosseting. When the daughter grows up, her parents find she is the type of person from whom all their peers are trying to protect their own children. It ends with the mother's conclusion that "Too much love is worse than none at all." "There But for the Grace of God Go I" reached number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent ten weeks on the chart. Slant Magazine later named it the sixth greatest dance song, and Pitchfork Media included it in its collection of The Pitchfork 500. The song ended up being censored twice: the original lyrics in the 3rd verse "Popping Pills and Smoking Weed" were changed to "Gaining Weight and Losing Sleep" and later the first verse lyrics "Let's Find a Place they say, Somewhere Far Away, with No Blacks, No Jews and No Gays" was changed to "Let's Find a Place they say, Somewhere Far Away, where only upper class people stay".

Machine released its second and final album Moving On in 1980 with two accompanying singles, but the album suffered from poor sales. The group disbanded the following year, and August Darnell went on to form Kid Creole and the Coconuts, who released a cover of "There But for the Grace of God Go I" in 1980. In 2009, three of the band's original members, Jay Stovall, Kevin Nance, and Clare Bathé, reformed the act for a tour.

A machine is a device that uses energy to perform some activity or task.

Machine, Machines, Machinery, The Machine, or The Machines may also refer to:

Machine is a 2006 American action movie written and directed by Michael Lazar, and starring Lazar, James Russo and Neal McDonough. The film had theatrical debut October 29, 2006.

In United States patent law, a machine is one of the four principal categories of things that may be patented. The other three are a process (also termed a method), an article of manufacture (also termed a manufacture), and a composition of matter. In United States patent law, that same terminology has been in use since the first patent act in 1790 (with the exception that processes were formerly termed "arts").

In In re Nuitjen, 500 F.3d 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2007), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said:

The Supreme Court has defined the term "machine" as "a concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices." Burr v. Duryee, 68 U.S. (1 Wall.) 531, 570 (1863). This "includes every mechanical device or combination of mechanical powers and devices to perform some function and produce a certain effect or result." Corning v. Burden, 56 U.S. 252, 267 (1854).

To this it might be added that the parts must interact (usually dynamically) with one another, for otherwise they might be parts of an article of manufacture. It has been considered grounds for rejecting or invalidating a machine claim as being directed to a "mere aggregation" if the parts were merely associated with one another without interacting functionally. An illustration of a mere aggregation would be the "combination" of a bathtub and a pencil sharpener. More recently, the "mere aggregation" ground of invalidity for a machine claim has been subsumed under obviousness.

Examples of machines are steam engines, sewing machines, and TV sets. Electronic circuits have usually been considered machines, although they may lack moving parts.

Machine is an album by the American Rock band Crack the Sky. The album was released on February 9, 2010. This is their fourteenth studio album.

Machine (機械, Kikai) is a 1930 novel by the Japanese author Riichi Yokomitsu ( 横光 利一).

Category:Japanese novels

Gene Freeman, known professionally as Machine, is an American music producer and engineer who has worked with many bands, including Lamb of God, Clutch, Crobot and others.

Machines employ power to achieve desired forces and movement ( motion). A machine has a power source and actuators that generate forces and movement, and a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement. Modern machines often include computers and sensors that monitor performance and plan movement, and are called mechanical systems.

The meaning of the word "machine" is traced by the Oxford English Dictionary to an independently functioning structure and by Merriam-Webster Dictionary to something that has been constructed. This includes human design into the meaning of machine.

The adjective "mechanical" refers to skill in the practical application of an art or science, as well as relating to or caused by movement, physical forces, properties or agents such as is dealt with by mechanics. Similarly Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "mechanical" as relating to machinery or tools.

Power flow through a machine provides a way to understand the performance of devices ranging from levers and gear trains to automobiles and robotic systems. The German mechanician Franz Reuleaux wrote "a machine is a combination of resistant bodies so arranged that by their means the mechanical forces of nature can be compelled to do work accompanied by certain determinate motion." Notice that forces and motion combine to define power.

More recently, Uicker et al. stated that a machine is "a device for applying power or changing its direction." And McCarthy and Soh describe a machine as a system that "generally consists of a power source and a mechanism for the controlled use of this power."

Machine is a single-movement orchestral encore piece by the American composer Jennifer Higdon. The work was commissioned in 2003 by the National Symphony Orchestra through a grant from the John and June Hechinger Commissioning Fund for New Orchestra Works. It was first performed by the National Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Giancarlo Guerrero on March 6, 2003.