apparatus

plural apparatuses · plural apparatusses · plural rare apparatûs · plural rare apparatūs · hypercorrect plural rare apparati

1. The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished.

   It describes a “coordinated effort by the CCP’s propaganda apparatus … to discredit the BBC, distract international attention and recapture control of the narrative,” mostly outside Chinese borders.

   2021 March 4, Emma Graham-Harrison, “China's Communist party ran campaign to discredit BBC, thinktank finds”, in The Guardian

   3 more examples

   These television stations are part of the apparatus and power of Milosevic. This is the apparatus he has used to do the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. It is the apparatus that keeps him in power and we are entirely justified as Nato allies in damaging and taking on those targets.

   1999 April 24, Martin Kettle, Alex Brummer, quoting Tony Blair, “The bombing goes on”, in The Guardian

   Among the many good points Thomas Piketty makes in Capital in the Twenty First Century – his world-changing but surprisingly mild book – is that extreme inequality can be sustained politically only through an “apparatus of justification”.

   2014 July 29, George Monbiot, “The rich want us to believe their wealth is good for us all”, in The Guardian

   Many jihadist plots have been foiled and the security apparatus is getting better, overall, at pre-empting those who would do us ill. But, they say, the nature of the threat and the terrorists’ increasing use of low-tech, asymmetrical tactics such as hire vehicles and knives, make it all but impossible to stop every assault.

   2017 August 20, “The Observer view on the attacks in Spain”, in The Observer

   Synonyms: dynamic, mechanism, setup

2. A complex machine or instrument.

   An apparatus for exploring the atmosphere of a planet such as Venus, at a specific altitude, was patented this week for a French agency, the Office Nationale d'Etudes et de Recherche Aerospatiales.

   1983 July 30, Stacy V. Jones, “Apparatus For Study Of Planets”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

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   “I have met my young photographer,” said De Stancy, cheerily. “What a small world it is, as every busybody truly observes! I am wishing he could take some views for us as we go on; but you have no apparatus with you, I suppose, Mr. Dare?”

   1880–1881, Thomas Hardy, chapter I, in A Laodicean; or, The Castle of the De Stancys. A Story of To-day. […], volume III, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […], published 1881, →OCLC, book the fifth (De Stancy and Paula), page 40

   Synonyms: device, instrument, machinery

3. collectiveAn assortment of tools and instruments.

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   We immediately threw out all the little things we had with us, ſuch as biſcuits, apples, &c. and after that one of our oars or wings; but ſtill deſcending, we caſt away the other wing, and then the governail ; having likewiſe had the precaution, for fear of accidents, while the Balloon was filling, partly to looſen and make it go eaſy, I now ſucceeded in attempting to reach without the Car, and unſcrewing the moulinet, with all its apparatus; I likewiſe caſt that into the ſea.

   1786, John Jeffries, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, A narrative of the two aerial Voyages of Dr. J. with Mons. Blanchard: with meteorological observations and remarks., page 45

   Synonyms: tools, gear, equipment

4. A bureaucratic organization, especially one influenced by political patronage.

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   In English fiction—that is to say British fiction in the English language tradition—it is a subtle question because we dislike thinking abstractly and conceptualisation of government, where it exists, is vague and confused. Take bishops: they sat as legislators and so were part of the governing apparatus.

   2006 April 3, David Walker, “Beyond her imagination”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: machine

5. firefightingA vehicle used for emergency response.
6. gymnasticsAny of the equipment on which the gymnasts perform their movements.
7. rhythmic gymnasticsAny of the objects that the gymnasts wield while performing and used as part of the performance itself.
8. video gamesA complex, highly modified weapon (typically not a firearm); a weaponized “Rube Goldberg machine.”
9. human sciencesIn an edition, a system of notations providing information, especially regarding variant readings of a text (a critical apparatus)