See also:device or apparatus for the application or modification
of force to a specific purpose . The See also:term " See
also:simple machine " is applied to the six so-called See
also:mechanical powers—the See also:wheel and See also:screw,
and inclined See also:plane . For machine-tools see TooLs . The
word machine was formerly applied to vehicles, such as stage-
coaches, &c., and is still applied to carriages in Scotland; a
survival of this use is in the term " bathing machine."
Figuratively, the word is used of persons whose actions seem to
be regulated according to a rigid and unchanging See also:system
. In politics, especially in See also:America, machine is
synonymous with party organization . A stage device of the See
also:ancient Greek drama gave rise to the proverbial expression,
" the See also:god from the machine," See also:Lat. deus ex
machina, for the disentangling and conclusion of a plot by
supernatural interference or by some accident extraneous to the
natural development of the See also:stor