machinate
verb
mach·i·nate
ˈma-kə-ˌnāt 
ˈma-shə-
ˈma-shə-
machinated; machinating
: to plan or plot especially to do harm
: to scheme or contrive to bring about : plot
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 website
Recent Examples on the Web
But Cleopatra, still machinating away in Alexandria, couldn’t handle the thought of Herod gaining any further traction in Antony’s affections.
—
Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
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, 30 July 2019
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Anne Thériault, Longreads, 18 Dec. 2019
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, 30 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Machinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/machinate. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
machinate
verb
mach·i·nate
ˈmak-ə-ˌnāt
ˈmash-ə-
ˈmash-ə-
machinated; machinating
: plot entry 2 sense 2
especially
: to scheme to do harm
machination
noun
ˌmak-ə-ˈnā-shən
ˌmash-ə-
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