machinery

noun

muh-SHEE-nuh-ree/məˈʃiːnəɹi/

4 meanings of machinery

1
noununcountable
The big machines used together in a factory to make things.
Like all the big tools in a factory working together to make things.
The factory bought new machinery to package the food faster.
Workers cleaned the machinery at the end of every shift.
Similarequipment, plant, apparatus, gear, hardware
2
noununcountable
All the parts of a system that work together to keep it going.
Like all the parts of a bicycle working together so it can move.
The whole machinery of the school helps students learn every day.
Voting is one part of the machinery of a democracy.
Similarapparatus, mechanism, system, workings, structure
3
noununcountable
The moving parts inside a machine that make it work.
Like all the gears turning inside a clock.
The clock stopped when dust got into its machinery.
He opened the back of the watch to oil the machinery.
Similarmechanism, workings, works, innards
4
nounfigurativelyuncountable
The tools and tricks a writer uses to make a story more dramatic.
Like the special effects and music in a movie that make a scene exciting.
The play's machinery of ghosts and omens keeps the audience tense.
Dickens used the machinery of coincidence to bring his characters together.
Similardevices, apparatus, mechanics

Practice

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Origin

It comes from the word "machine" plus the ending "-ery."