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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. |