Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - machine

~1 n 1 a piece of equipment that uses power such as electricity to do a particular job  (a machine that fills the bottles | Could you get me a Coke from the machine? | sewing/washing machine etc (=a machine that can sew, wash clothes etc) | by machine)  (The letters are sorted by machine.) 2 a computer  (a powerful machine that is ideal for software development) 3 a group of people that controls an organization, especially a political party  (the party machine | the government's propaganda machine) 4 like a well-oiled machine working very smoothly and effectively  (The office runs like a well-oiled machine.) 5 informal a vehicle  (That's an impressive-looking machine you've got there.) 6 someone who works without stopping, or who seems to have no feelings or independent thoughts  (He was a running machine, born to do nothing but win medals.)  (- see also cash machine, fruit machine, time machine)  ( USAGE NOTE: MACHINE WORD CHOICE machine, device, thing, appliance, gadget You do not usually work a machine directly by hand, and it may be large. Often the word is used with another word before it that describes its purpose The coffee machine has broken down. Device is more formal. A device may be worked by hand, or be electrical a device for opening bottles . In spoken English people say thing a thing to open bottles with . Device is used especially for something that is used to measure or protect something else a device to find faults in plastic | a contraceptive device An appliance is a machine used for a particular purpose in the home, and is called this especially by the people who produce and sell them a household appliance such as a dishwasher | domestic appliances A gadget is a cleverly designed small machine, often one that does a complicated action, and is usually modern My latest gadget is a breadmaker. SPOKEN-WRITTEN When the word before it describes what the machine is for, people sometimes leave out the word machine Can I use your fax (machine)? When the word before machine ends in -ing, you can sometimes use the same word ending in -er on its own Lianne is in charge of the photocopier (formal photocopying machine). Often you do not use the word machine at all to talk about a particular machine. For example, you say dishwasher, not dishwashing machine and tumble-drier not tumble-drying machine.