Definition

1. Noun:
   • Machines or machine systems collectively: Refers to multiple machines working together or as a group, especially in an industrial or mechanical context.
   • The working parts of a machine: The internal components and mechanisms that make a machine function.
   • A system or structure of an organization: (Figurative) The complex system of people, processes, and rules that enables an institution or government to operate.

Examples of Usage

• Referring to physical machines:
  • The factory invested in new machinery to increase production.
  • Agricultural machinery has revolutionized farming.
• Referring to internal mechanisms:
  • He understood the complex machinery of the antique clock.
• Referring to organizational systems (figurative):
  • The machinery of government can be slow to respond to change.
  • The legal machinery was set in motion to investigate the claim.

Advanced Usage

• "The machinery of...": A common phrase used to describe the complex, often impersonal, system behind a process or institution.
  • The machinery of justice must be allowed to run its course.
  • We are just cogs in the machinery of corporate bureaucracy.

Variants and Related Words

• Machine (n): A single device with moving parts designed to perform a task.
  • A sewing machine.
• Mechanism (n): A system of parts working together; often used similarly to 'machinery' in a figurative sense.
  • The watch's mechanism is very precise.
  • A mechanism for resolving disputes.

Synonyms

• Equipment: The necessary items for a particular purpose.
• Apparatus: The technical equipment or machinery needed for a specific activity.
• System: A set of connected things or parts forming a complex whole, especially in the figurative sense.

Related Phrases

• "Set the machinery in motion": To start a process, especially a complex or official one.
  • The new law set the machinery in motion for a nationwide review.
• "Gears of the machinery": (Figurative) The essential components or people that make a system work.
  • The volunteers are the gears of the machinery that keeps the charity running.

Noun

1. a system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions
   • the complex machinery of negotiation
   • the machinery of command labored and brought forth an order
2. machines or machine systems collectively