Definition of "machine" []

• A device consisting of fixed and moving parts that modifies mechanical energy and transmits it in a more useful form. (noun)
• 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. (noun)
• A system or device for doing work, as an automobile or a jackhammer, together with its power source and auxiliary equipment. (noun)
• A system or device, such as a computer, that performs or assists in the performance of a human task: The machine is down. (noun)
• An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body. (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.

• "That to steer a machine so constructed, it is merely necessary to move the point of attachment of car to _machine_ proper, out of the center of plane of support in the desired direction, and thus cause the plane of support or rotation of propellers to incline in that direction."
• "To say, _This machine is the BEST OF ANY machine_ (or _any other machine_), is wrong, because all machines are meant, not one machine or some machines."
• "To say, _This machine is BETTER THAN ANY machine_, is incorrect, but to say, _This machine is better THAN ANY OTHER machine_, is correct."