Noun

(en noun)

a (mechanical) device to perform a certain task

a means, such as an elaborate plan or strategy, to accomplish a certain objective

* 2005 , .

And along with each of these go their images, not the things themselves, — they too have come about by godlike contrivance .

something overly artful or artificial

Noun

(en noun)

Within a machine or machinery; any mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion, or the transmission or control of power.

Any combination of cams, gears, links, belts, chains and logical mechanical elements.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03

, author=(Henry Petroski) , title=Opening Doors , volume=100, issue=2, page=112-3 , magazine= citation , passage=A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism —known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place.}}

A group of objects or parts that interact together. (as in Political machine )

A mental, physical or chemical process.

(philosophy) A theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes.