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machinate

verb
mach·​i·​nate | \ ˈma-kə-ˌnāt How to pronounce machinate (audio) , ˈma-shə- How to pronounce machinate (audio) \
machinated; machinating

Definition of machinate

intransitive verb

: to plan or plot especially to do harm

transitive verb

: to scheme or contrive to bring about : plot
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Other Words from machinate

machinator \ ˈma-​kə-​ˌnā-​tər How to pronounce machinator (audio) , ˈma-​shə-​ \ noun

Examples of machinate in a Sentence

a trio of courtiers who were discovered to be machinating against the queen the hackers machinated a way to steal credit numbers from the company's Web site

Recent Examples on the Web

 Now a new scheme described by ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal involves families seemingly machinating to get an unfair leg up in paying for a coveted seat at a university. — Adam Harris, The Atlantic, "Trading Custody for Financial Aid," 30 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'machinate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of machinate

1537, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

History and Etymology for machinate

Latin machinatus, past participle of machinari, from machina machine, contrivance

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More from Merriam-Webster on machinate

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with machinate

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for machinate

Nglish: Translation of machinate for Spanish Speakers

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