A plot or scheme formed for some evil purpose; an artful design.
With the credulity that often attended his art, he attributed many of his disappointments to the machination of the malignant spirits that beset the paths of the alchymist and torment him in his solitary labours. Washington Irving in "Bracebridge Hall, or The Humorists".
With the credulity that often attended his art, he attributed many of his disappointments to the machination of the malignant spirits that beset the paths of the alchymist and torment him in his solitary labours.
Freed from tightness or closeness; rendered loose. ...