Definition of "machination" [mach•i•na•tion]

• The act of plotting. (noun)
• A crafty scheme or cunning design for the accomplishment of a sinister end. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And they should expect more of this kind of machination from the Republicans."
• "Retired general Valentin Varennikov, a onetime coup plotter against Gorbachev, says that "only some machination can keep us from power.""
• "They do not want to get caught up in a machination of U.S."