machines, in general, or collectively.-the working parts of a machine, engine, or instrument; as, the machinery of a watch.-the supernatural means by which the action of a poetic or fictitious work is carried on and brought to a catastrophe; in an extended sense, the contrivances by which the crises and conclusion of a fictitious narrative, in prose or verse, are effected.-the means and appliances by which anything is kept in action or a desired result is obtained; a complex system of parts adapted to a purpose.