4. A knobbed mallet used by curriers in dressing leather to make it
supple.
5. (Billiards) A rod for playing billiards, having one end suited to
resting on the table and pushed with one hand.
Mace bearer, an officer who carries a mace before persons in authority.
Mac`e*do"ni*an (?), a. [L. Macedonius, Gr. &?;.] (Geog.) Belonging, or
relating, to Macedonia. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Macedonia.
Mac`e*do"ni*an, n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a certain religious sect,
followers of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, in the fourth
century, who held that the Holy Ghost was a creature, like the angels,
and a servant of the Father and the Son.
Mac`e*do"ni*an*ism (?), n. The doctrines of Macedonius.
Ma"cer (?), n. [F. massier. See Mace staff.] A mace bearer; an officer
of a court. P. Plowman.
Mac"er*ate (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Macerated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Macerating.] [L. maceratus, p. p. of macerare to make soft, weaken,
enervate; cf. Gr. &?; to knead.] 1. To make lean; to cause to waste
away. [Obs. or R.] Harvey.
2. To subdue the appetites of by poor and scanty diet; to mortify.
Baker.
3. To soften by steeping in a liquid, with or without heat; to wear
away or separate the parts of by steeping; as, to macerate animal or
vegetable fiber.
Mac"er*a`ter (?), n. One who, or that which, macerates; an apparatus
for converting paper or fibrous matter into pulp.
Mac`er*a"tion (?), n. [L. maceratio: cf. F. macération.] The act or
process of macerating.
{ ||Ma*chæ"ro*dus (m*k"r*ds), ||Ma*chai"ro*dus (m*k"r*ds), } n. [NL.,
fr. Gr. ma`chaira dagger + 'odoy`s tooth.] (Paleon.) A genus of extinct
mammals allied to the cats, and having in the upper jaw canine teeth of
remarkable size and strength; -- hence called saber-toothed tigers.
||Ma*che"te (m*ch"t), n. [Sp.] A large heavy knife resembling a
||broadsword, often two or three feet in length, -- used by the
||inhabitants of Spanish America as a hatchet to cut their way through
||thickets, and for various other purposes. J. Stevens.
Mach`i*a*vel"ian (?), a. [From Machiavel, an Italian writer, secretary
and historiographer to the republic of Florence.] Of or pertaining to
Machiavel, or to his supposed principles; politically cunning;
characterized by duplicity or bad faith; crafty.
Mach`i*a*vel"ian, n. One who adopts the principles of Machiavel; a
cunning and unprincipled politician.
{ Mach"i*a*vel*ism (?), Mach`i*a*vel"ian*ism (?), } n. [Cf. F.
machiavélisme; It. machiavellismo.] The supposed principles of
Machiavel, or practice in conformity to them; political artifice,
intended to favor arbitrary power.
Ma*chic"o*la`ted (?), a. [LL. machicolatus, p. p. of machicolare,
machicollare. See Machicolation.] Having machicolations. "Machicolated
turrets." C. Kingsley.
Mach`i*co*la"tion (?), n. [Cf. LL. machicolamentum, machacolladura, F.
mâchicolis, mâchecoulis; perh. fr. F. mèche match, combustible matter +
OF. coulis, couleis, flowing, fr. OF. & F. couler to flow. Cf. Match
for making fire, and Cullis.]
1. (Mil. Arch.) An opening between the corbels which support a
projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a
portal, for shooting or dropping missiles upon assailants attacking the
base of the walls. Also, the construction of such defenses, in general,
when of this character. See Illusts. of Battlement and Castle.
2. The act of discharging missiles or pouring burning or melted
substances upon assailants through such apertures.
||Ma`chi`cou`lis" (?), n. [F. mâchicoulis.] (Mil. Arch.) Same as
||Machicolation.
Ma*chin"al (?), a. [L. machinalis: cf. F. machinal.] Of or pertaining
to machines.
Mach"i*nate (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Machinated (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Machinating (?).] [L. machinatus, p. p. of machinari to devise, plot.
See Machine.] To plan; to contrive; esp., to form a scheme with the
purpose of doing harm; to contrive artfully; to plot. "How long will
you machinate!" Sandys.
Mach"i*nate (?), v. t. To contrive, as a plot; to plot; as, to
machinate evil.
Mach`i*na"tion (?), n. [L. machinatio: cf. F. machination.] 1. The act
of machinating. Shak.
2. That which is devised; a device; a hostile or treacherous scheme; an
artful design or plot.
Devilish machinations come to naught.
Milton.
His ingenious machinations had failed.
Macaulay.
Mach"i*na`tor (?), n. [L.] One who machinates, or forms a scheme with
evil designs; a plotter or artful schemer. Glanvill. Sir W. Scott.
Ma*chine" (m*shn"), 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.
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.