MACHINERY

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does machinery mean? 

• MACHINERY (noun)
  The noun MACHINERY has 2 senses:

1. machines or machine systems collectively

2. a system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions

  Familiarity information: MACHINERY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MACHINERY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Machines or machine systems collectively

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("machinery" is a kind of...):

machine (any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "machinery"):

enginery (machinery consisting of engines collectively)

technology (machinery and equipment developed from engineering or other applied sciences)

grinder; mill; milling machinery (machinery that processes materials by grinding or crushing)

Derivation:

machine (make by machinery)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

the machinery of command labored and brought forth an order

Hypernyms ("machinery" is a kind of...):

scheme; system (a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole)

 Context examples 

It is when the system is overloaded over a long period of time that this machinery breaks down.

(Artificial Sweeteners Can Still Lead to Obesity, Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Grb10 may regulate signaling between plasma membrane receptors and the apoptosis-inducing machinery on the mitochondrial outer membrane.

(Growth Factor Receptor-Bound Protein 10, NCI Thesaurus)

CBP interacts with transcriptional regulatory factors and with the basal transcriptional machinery to help regulate transcription.

(Inhibition of Huntington's Disease Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Better understanding of the mechanisms involved in the interaction of CMV with cellular signaling machinery will provide improved ways to treat CMV-mediated disease.

(Human Cytomegalovirus Infection Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This complex may play a role by directly contacting the basal transcriptional machinery.

(Gene Expression Regulation by Vitamin D Receptor Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The compound, called ddhCTP, disrupts the replication machinery of Zika virus.

(Scientists Discover How Antiviral Gene Works, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

They spliced these into circular DNA sequences called plasmids, which she inserted into bacteria, whose natural cellular machinery began to produce the proteins in quantity.

(New studies may bring slug-made glues closer to use in medicine, Wikinews)

This nick blocks the DNA repair machinery.

(Structural Snapshots of Damaged DNA, NIH)

This could cause the machinery to manufacture too many proteins, leading to cell death.

(Too much protein may kill brain cells as Parkinson’s progresses, NINDS)

Autophagy is a biological process that involves the lysosomal degradation of intracellular components using it a cell's own machinery.

(Autophagy, NCI Thesaurus)