What does rube goldberg machine mean?
Definitions for rube goldberg machine
rube gold·berg ma·chine
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word rube goldberg machine.
Wiktionary
Rube Goldberg machinenoun
A comical, overcomplicated machine which performs a simple task.
Wikipedia
Rube Goldberg machine
A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices; the action of each triggers the initiation of the next, eventually resulting in achieving a stated goal. In the United Kingdom, a similar contrivance is referred to as a "Heath Robinson contraption" after cartoons by the illustrator W. Heath Robinson. The design of such a "machine" is often presented on paper and would be impossible to implement in actuality. More recently, such machines are being fully constructed for entertainment (for example, a breakfast scene in Peewee's Big Adventure) and in Rube Goldberg competitions. Over the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or overly complicated system. News headlines include, but are not limited to, "Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?" and "Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine". Half a century after his death, even scientific hypotheses deemed to be overly complex have been described by referencing such machines, as with linking solar gamma-ray signals to dark matter seeming "to be like a Rube Goldberg–type thing[.]”
Wikidata
Rube Goldberg machine
A Rube Goldberg machine, contraption, invention, device, or apparatus is a deliberately over-engineered or overdone machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg. Over the years, the expression has expanded to mean any confusing or complicated system. For example, news headlines include "Is Rep. Bill Thomas the Rube Goldberg of Legislative Reform?" and "Retirement 'insurance' as a Rube Goldberg machine".
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of rube goldberg machine in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of rube goldberg machine in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of rube goldberg machine in a Sentence
The code base is like a Rube Goldberg machine, and when you zoom in on one part of the Rube Goldberg machine, there’s another Rube Goldberg machine, and then there’s another one, so it’s quite difficult to keep this thing running, and then also difficult to advance the product because it is really overly complex, to say the least.
The code base is like a Rube Goldberg machine, and when you zoom in on one part of the Rube Goldberg machine, there’s another Rube Goldberg machine, and then there’s another one.
Translations for rube goldberg machine
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- آلة غولدبيرغ روبArabic
- Rube Goldberg strojCzech
- Rube Goldberg-maskineDanish
- Rube Goldberg-MaschineGerman
- rube goldberg μηχανήGreek
- دستگاه گلوببرگ rubePersian
- rube goldberg koneFinnish
- rube goldberg machineFrench
- mesin rube goldbergIndonesian
- macchina rube goldbergItalian
- rube apparatus GoldbergLatin
- rube goldberg machineDutch
- rube goldberg maskinNorwegian
- maszyna Rube GoldbergPolish
- Máquina de goldberg rubePortuguese
- rube goldbergRomanian
- Rube Goldberg maskinSwedish
- ரூப் கோல்ட்பர்க் இயந்திரம்Tamil
- రూబ్ గోల్డ్బెర్గ్ యంత్రంTelugu
- เครื่องภูเขาน้ำแข็งทองคำThai
- rube goldberg makinesiTurkish
- rube goldberg máyVietnamese
- קוב גאָלדבערגYiddish
- 盧德·戈德堡機Chinese
Get even more translations for rube goldberg machine »
Translation
Find a translation for the rube goldberg machine definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"rube goldberg machine." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/rube+goldberg+machine>.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Rube_Goldberg's_"Self-Operating_Napkin"_(cropped).gif "rube goldberg machine")
Discuss these rube goldberg machine definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In