Definition: infernal machine
n : a bomb that has a detonating mechanism that can be set to go
off at a particular time [syn: time bomb
English → English
Definition: Infernal machine
, a. [F. infernal, L. infernalis, fr.
infernus that which lies beneath, the lower. See Inferior
1. Of or pertaining to or suitable for the lower regions,
inhabited, according to the ancients, by the dead;
pertaining to Pluto's realm of the dead, the Tartarus of
The Elysian fields, the infernal monarchy. --Garth.
2. Of or pertaining to, resembling, or inhabiting, hell;
suitable for hell, or to the character of the inhabitants
of hell; hellish; diabolical; as, infernal spirits, or
The instruments or abettors in such infernal
, a machine or apparatus maliciously
designed to explode, and destroy life or property.
), lunar caustic;
formerly so called. The name was also applied to caustic
Syn: Tartarean; Stygian; hellish; devilish; diabolical;
satanic; fiendish; malicious.
(m[.a]*sh[=e]n"), n. [F., fr. L. machina
machine, engine, device, trick, Gr. ?, from ? means,
expedient. Cf. Mechanic
1. In general, any combination of bodies so connected that
their relative motions are constrained, and by means of
which force and motion may be transmitted and modified, as
a screw and its nut, or a lever arranged to turn about a
fulcrum or a pulley about its pivot, etc.; especially, a
construction, more or less complex, consisting of a
combination of moving parts, or simple mechanical
elements, as wheels, levers, cams, etc., with their
supports and connecting framework, calculated to
constitute a prime mover, or to receive force and motion
from a prime mover or from another machine, and transmit,
modify, and apply them to the production of some desired
mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the
excitation of electricity by an electrical machine.
Note: The term machine is most commonly applied to such
pieces of mechanism as are used in the industrial arts,
for mechanically shaping, dressing, and combining
materials for various purposes, as in the manufacture
of cloth, etc. Where the effect is chemical, or other
than mechanical, the contrivance is usually denominated
an apparatus or device, not a machine; as, a bleaching
apparatus. Many large, powerful, or specially important
pieces of mechanism are called engines; as, a steam
engine, fire engine, graduating engine, etc. Although
there is no well-settled distinction between the terms
engine and machine among practical men, there is a
tendency to restrict the application of the former to
contrivances in which the operating part is not
distinct from the motor.
2. Any mechanical contrivance, as the wooden horse with which
the Greeks entered Troy; a coach; a bicycle. --Dryden.
3. A person who acts mechanically or at the will of another.
4. A combination of persons acting together for a common
purpose, with the agencies which they use; as, the social
The whole machine of government ought not to bear
upon the people with a weight so heavy and
5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or
more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends; the
Tammany machine. [Political Cant]
6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being
introduced to perform some exploit. --Addison.
, a name sometimes given to one of the
simple mechanical powers. See under Mechanical
. See under Infernal
.See under Gun.
, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into
metal, in distinction from one which is designed
especially to be screwed into wood.
, a workshop where machines are made, or where
metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc.
, a machine for cutting or shaping wood, metal,
etc., by means of a tool; especially, a machine, as a
lathe, planer, drilling machine, etc., designed for a more
or less general use in a machine shop, in distinction from
a machine for producing a special article as in
, silken thread especially adapted for use in
, work done by a machine, in contradistinction
to that done by hand labor.