machinery
This term emphasizes a collective system rather than individual tools. While a machine is a single device, machinery evokes the image of a complex, interconnected network of gears, belts, and levers working in unison to achieve a large-scale result. In a social or political sense, the word carries a cold, impersonal connotation. It suggests a bureaucratic engine that operates automatically and rigidly, often implying that the individuals within the system are merely cogs in a larger, unfeeling apparatus.
Used as a mass noun to describe a collection of equipment or a system, such as saying the farm has expensive machinery rather than three machineries.
Meanings
The collective set of machines or mechanical parts used in a particular process or industry.
"The factory installed new machinery to increase production."
The internal mechanisms or organized systems of a government, organization, or process.
"The machinery of state moves slowly but steadily."