machine

1. (dated) A vehicle operated mechanically, such as an automobile or an airplane.Examples: "As he stood directly beneath a brilliant arc light, waiting for a limousine that was approaching to pass him, he heard his name called in a sweet feminine voice. Looking up, he met the smiling eyes of Olga de Coude as she leaned forward upon the back seat of the machine. He bowed very low in response to her friendly greeting. When he straightened up the machine had borne her away."; "As the aviator turned his machine to reconnoitre in the new direction, he was surprised to see the hostile aeroplane between him and his objective."; ""Joe, how soon will you be ready to roll?" Frank Hardy burst into the garage where his brother was working on a sleek, black-and-silver motorcycle. "Right now, if this machine kicks over," Joe replied, putting down a wrench."dated

2. (telephony, abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.Examples: "I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine."abbreviation

3. (computing) A computer.Examples: "Game developers assume they're pushing the limits of the machine."; "He refuses to turn off his Linux machine."

4. (figuratively) A person or organisation that seemingly acts like a machine, being particularly efficient, single-minded, or unemotional.Examples: "Bruce Campbell was a "demon-killing machine" because he made quick work of killing demons."; "The government has become a money-making machine."figuratively

5. (poetry) Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.Examples: "I am apt to think, that the changing of the Trojan fleet into water-nymphs, which is the most violent machine in the whole Æneid[…]"

6. (politics, chiefly US) The system of special interest groups that supports a political party, especially in urban areas.Examples: "A machine politician cannot see why the straight ticket (as he and his clique of party bosses prepare it) should not be voted by every citizen belonging to that party."; "In essence, therefore, the right-fork strategy of the Democrats meant an alliance of the South with the political machines built on the non-Protestant immigrants in key Northeastern states."; "He was thrust into a political maelstrom for which he was ill-prepared, and yet he was, most notably, the Chicago machine's political savior."US