adding machine
2
3.9
- noun
- /ˈædɪŋ məˌʃin/
- Archaic
:
calculadora
- TILT UP to Andy at the desk, munching thoughtfully as he totals up figures on an adding machine.
- numbers with the adding machine
- adding machine keys
Examples
-
The first proto-computers were simple adding machines, using toothed wheels similar to clockworks to tally strings of numbers.
Academic text (2003) -
Pan from the poster to a high angle shot of a floor full of accountants sitting at their rows and rows of desks; all are looking up at the wall poster as they operate their manual adding machines to the same beat.
Fiction book (1994) -
Well, you know, basically it's just a big, fast adding machine.
-
Do you have your adding machine with you?
-
Amy looked away, pushing a number on the adding machine.
Fiction book (2000) -
You should see Lureen punching numbers in her adding machine.
-
Luke is poring over the ledger books, adding up figures on an old manual adding machine.
Fiction book (2001) -
Linda figures on an adding machine, stamps my mother’s deposit slip, then counts seventy dollars into my mother’s hands.
Fiction book (2000) -
And also, he did figures and answered phones in the front office right along with the clerical ladies, his fingers virtuoso on the keys of the adding machine, processing orders, tallying inventory, and doing the payroll.
Fiction book (1991) -
The accountant used the adding machine to quickly calculate the total expenses for the month.
Synonyms
81
1.3
A small electronic device for doing math like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing
3
3.7
A machine like a computer or calculator that works with information
1
5.9
A machine for doing math, often mechanical or early electronic
A device or calculator that adds numbers to show a total
A device inside a computer or calculator that finds the total of numbers
How Complex
- Specialized
34
3.2
81
1.3
- Archaic
2
3.9
7
6.4
- Specialized
75
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is a straightforward composition: 'add' (to combine numbers) + 'machine' (a device), so the meaning 'a device that performs addition' is directly derivable from the constituents. This is a productive, cross-linguistically common compounding pattern in English, so an average B1 learner who knows both words would understand the MWE.
Etymology
Adding machine shows a simple picture: a machine for adding numbers, used by accountants who pressed keys and watched totals roll up on a small window or paper tape. So, the name means a device for doing basic arithmetic like 'adding' and 'subtracting'.