a cog in the machine

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a cog in the machine anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the machine—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just cogs in the machine, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

a cog in the wheel

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a cog in the wheel anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the wheel—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just cogs in the wheel, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

a small cog in a large machine

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a small cog in a large machine anymore! Oh, I'm but a small cog in a large machine—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just small cogs in a large machine, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

a small cog in a large wheel

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a small cog in a large wheel anymore! Oh, I'm but a small cog in a large wheel—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just small cogs in a large wheel, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

a well-oiled machine

Someone or something that functions very well or efficiently. Trudy and I have been working together in the attendance office for so long, we're like a well-oiled machine at this point. The assembly line worked like a well-oiled machine—we got all the envelopes stuffed in two hours! The department usually runs like a well-oiled machine, but we have five employees out sick right now.

cog in the machine

cog in the wheel

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a cog in the wheel anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the wheel—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just cogs in the wheel, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

ghost in the machine

1. Human consciousness and thought as an entity distinct and separate from the body. Of course, our mental state is so inextricably linked to our physical state that it is at best purely speculative to think of the mind as some sort of ghost in the machine. A "ghost in the machine"? Do you have any idea what this guy's talking about? How can one's mind and body ever be fully separated? You can tell he's had too much to drink once he starts getting philosophical and talking about stuff like the ghost in the machine.

2. By extension, virtual consciousness resulting from artificial intelligence inside of a computer system. The novel, set in the very distant future, imagines a world where the line between human and artificial consciousness is blurred, leading many to wonder who is truly human, and who is simply a ghost in the machine. I don't understand why people are so comfortable with AI. The thought of conversing with a ghost in the machine freaks me out! When you ask your phone questions, and it responds to you, well, there's a ghost in the machine.

hype machine

slang Unchecked excitement and attention surrounding an artist or product in popular culture that is generated by a combination of marketing efforts and enthusiasm from fans. The hype machine always starts going full tilt whenever the ultra-popular K-pop band gets ready to release a new album. It's the latest entry in a beloved video game franchise that has lain dormant for nearly eight years, so the hype machine is going off the rails ahead of its release. Any time a beloved actor comes back to that soap opera, you can bet the hype machine will be going full force.

lean, mean (something) machine

Someone or something who is prepared and able to work very hard, skillfully, and efficiently to do something. A humorous play on the phrase "lean, mean fighting machine." After 15 years of experience in this industry, our little firm has become a lean, mean bean-counting machine. This little barbecue might not look like much, but it's a lean, mean grilling machine!

lean, mean fighting machine

One who is prepared and able to work very hard, skillfully, and efficiently to do something. Does not have to refer exclusively to fighting. I'm really nervous to run against Caroline in the student council election—she's a lean, mean fighting machine. That boxer is known for his rigorous training regimen. When he steps into the ring, he's truly a lean, mean fighting machine!

like a well-oiled machine

Said of someone or something that functions very well or efficiently. Trudy and I have been working together in the attendance office for so long, we're like a well-oiled machine at this point.

poop machine

rude slang A person or animal that defecates frequently. For such a tiny baby, Sara is a real poop machine All we do is change diapers! Be careful walking across the grass—geese are back for the spring, and boy are they poop machines.

sex machine

1. Someone who engages in very frequent or vigorous sex. I've just never really been a sex machine. I prefer spending time with my romantic partners in other ways.

2. Someone who can provide frequent sexual satisfaction to their partner. There's a belief that all women want total sex machines for boyfriends and husbands, but that's simply not true.

spin machine

A group, organization, or movement of people that collectively manages the way in which a piece of news or information is presented or interpreted so that it best serves their own interests. The company is a master spin machine, turning the most minor of successes into glorious accomplishments, while deflecting any failures as not being noteworthy. The president's spin machine was in full force again today, with every news outlet aligned with her arguing that the fresh allegations of financial misconduct are lies being perpetrated by foreign enemies of the government.

cog in the wheel

Also, cog in the machine. One who holds a minor but necessary post in a large organization, as in Frank knew he was just a cog in the wheel of this giant corporation. This term alludes to the role of the mechanical cog, one of the teeth on a wheel or gear that, by engaging other teeth, transmits or receives motion. Used figuratively since about 1930, it sometimes is put as small cog in a large wheel, emphasizing a person's lack of importance.

cog in the wheel (or machine

) a person who plays a small mundane (perhaps vital but generally unacknowledged or unappreciated) role in a large enterprise.

the ghost in the machine

the mind viewed as distinct from the body.

This phrase was coined by the British philosopher Gilbert Ryle in The Concept of Mind ( 1949 ) for a viewpoint that he considered completely misleading.

a cog in the maˈchine/ˈwheel

(informal) a person who plays a small part in a large organization or plan: The firm tries hard to make its employees feel that they are more than simply cogs in the wheel.

sex-machine

n. a sexually promising person; a person obsessed with sex. Heidi looks like such a sex-machine, but she is a real wallflower.

See also:

References in classic literature

We were speaking, not of plants, but of machines. They may be composed partly of wood--wood that has no longer vitality--or wholly of metal.

Was all his talk about the consciousness and intelligence of machines merely a prelude to eventual exhibition of this device--only a trick to intensify the effect of its mechanical action upon me in my ignorance of its secret?

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`Upon that machine,' said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp aloft, `I intend to explore time.

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It is formed of a light wicker, and is wonderfully strong, for so frail looking a machine. Its rim is about four feet deep.

For example, there may be a deposition of dew upon the silk, to the extent, even, of several hundred pounds ; ballast has then to be thrown out, or the machine may descend.

If, for example, there should be a deposition of moisture upon the silk, and the machine begins to descend in consequence, there will be no necessity for discharging ballast to remedy the increase of weight, for it is remedied, or counteracted, in an exactly just proportion, by the deposit on the ground of just so much of the end of the rope as is necessary.

Just before day, we were all somewhat alarmed at some odd noises and concussions in the balloon, accompanied with the apparent rapid subsidence of the whole machine. These phenomena were occasioned by the expansion of the gas, through increase of heat in the atmosphere, and the consequent disruption of the minute particles of ice with which the network had become encrusted during the night.

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"Then, sir, the machine was on its trial; and the machine was right.

Now what have you got to say to my poor little machine after that?

"Why, look here, Mr Usher," said Father Brown quietly, "you said the machine couldn't make a mistake; and in one sense it didn't.

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His machine was, however neither bird-like nor butterfly-like, nor had it the wide, lateral expansion of the ordinary aeroplane.

Then one day he wrote to all the London papers to announce that he had made arrangements for an ascent from the Crystal Palace of a machine that would demonstrate satisfactorily that the outstanding difficulties in the way of flying were finally solved.

Butteridge, and the extraordinary terms he demanded for the secret of his machine.

It became evident these precautions were not inadvisable in view of the violent demand for any sort of photograph or impressions of his machine. But Mr.

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"But suppose the trusts win in this battle over the ownership of the machines and the world?" Mr.

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