Words / B1

m-uh-SHEEN-uh-ree/məˈʃiːnəri/

Machinery is machines as a group, and also the official system that makes something work: the machinery of government. Machine is the countable twin (already in the dictionary). Equipment is wider. Often uncountable. Factories: the plant shut when the machinery failed a safety check.

Meaning

Machines as a group; also the official system that makes something work (often uncountable).

Examples

• “The plant shut when the machinery failed a safety check.”
• “The machinery of the complaints process is slow, which is the official-system sense.”

Good to know

Often uncountable. a piece of machinery. Wider: equipment. Countable twin: a machine. Factories / official process. Not “machineries” in exams.

Near in meaning

equipment

New