Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Machine \Ma*chine"\, 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, 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.
      --Southey. --Thackeray.

   3. A person who acts mechanically or at will of another.

   4. A combination of persons acting together for a common
      purpose, with the agencies which they use; as, the social
      machine.

            The whole machine of government ought not to bear
            upon the people with a weight so heavy and
            oppressive.                           --Landor.

   5. A political organization arranged and controlled by one or
      more leaders for selfish, private or partisan ends.
      [Political Cant]

   6. Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being
      introduced to perform some exploit. --Addison.

   {Elementary machine}, a name sometimes given to one of the
      simple mechanical powers. See under {Mechanical}.

   {Infernal machine}. See under {Infernal}.

   {Machine gun}.See under {Gun.}

   {Machine screw}, a screw or bolt adapted for screwing into
      metal, in distinction from one which is designed
      especially to be screwed into wood.

   {Machine shop}, a workshop where machines are made, or where
      metal is shaped by cutting, filing, turning, etc.

   {Machine tool}, 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
      manufacturing.

   {Machine twist}, silken thread especially adapted for use in
      a sewing machine.

   {Machine work}, work done by a machine, in contradistinction
      to that done by hand labor.

Machine \Ma*chine"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Machined}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Machining}.]
   To subject to the action of machinery; to effect by aid of
   machinery; to print with a printing machine.

Source : WordNet®

machine
     n 1: any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or
          modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance
          of human tasks
     2: an intricate organization that accomplishes its goals
        efficiently; "the war machine"
     3: an efficient person; "the boxer was a magnificent fighting
        machine"
     4: 4-wheeled motor vehicle; usually propelled by an internal
        combustion engine; "he needs a car to get to work" [syn: {car},
         {auto}, {automobile}, {motorcar}]
     5: a group that controls the activities of a political party;
        "he was endorsed by the Democratic machine" [syn: {political
        machine}]
     6: a device for overcoming resistance at one point by applying
        force at some other point [syn: {simple machine}]

machine
     v 1: turn, shape, mold, or otherwise finish by machinery
     2: make by machinery; "The Americans were machining while
        others still hand-made cars"

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

machine
     
        Common term for "computer", usually when considered at the
        hardware level.  The {Turing Machine}, an early example of
        this usage, was however neither hardware nor software, but
        only an idea.
     
        [Earlier use?]
     
        (1995-02-15)