Basic Details
Word: Machinery
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Machines as a group, especially large ones; the working parts of a machine; also the system by which something is run, as in the machinery of government.
Synonyms: equipment, machines, apparatus
How to Spell Machinery
Syllables: ma - chin - er - y
Tricky part: The ch sounds like sh, and the ending is ery, not ary. The e of machine stays.
Watch out for: machinary, mashinery, machenery
Memory tip: Write the full word machine and then add ry: machine + ry. Since machine already ends in e, the ery takes care of itself.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The factory floor was full of noisy machinery.
Example 2: Farmers in the village share the cost of hiring heavy machinery at harvest time.
Example 3: Oil keeps the moving parts of the machinery from wearing out.
Fun Fact
In Charlie Chaplin's 1936 film Modern Times, a factory worker is pulled onto a conveyor belt and carried through the giant gears of the machinery.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these words takes the suffix ry to make a new word. Choose it.
Suffix: ry
a) wheel
b) piston
c) motor
d) machine
Show answer
d) machine. Machine + ry gives machinery; motorry, pistonry and wheelry are not words.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letters to form a word:
m_ch_nery
a) u, i
b) a, i
c) a, e
d) e, i
Show answer
b) a, i. Ma-chin-er-y begins like machine: an a after the m and an i after the ch.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. machinery 2. engeneer 3. invension 4. factary
a) a building where goods are made
b) machines as a group, especially large ones
c) a person who designs and builds machines or structures
d) something new that someone has designed or made
Show answer
b) machines as a group, especially large ones. Count what is wrong elsewhere: engineer needs an i after g, factory needs o and invention needs t. Machinery is untouched.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In the phrase the machinery of government, machinery means ____.
a) the tools in a workshop
b) the cars used by ministers
c) the buildings in the capital
d) the system that makes it work
Show answer
d) the system that makes it work
2. Machinery is an uncountable noun. Which phrase is correct?
a) many machineries
b) a lot of machinery
c) two machinerys
d) a machinery
Show answer
b) a lot of machinery
