Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Vending Machine |
Vending MachineNoun1. A slot machine for selling goods. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Mart | Vending machine. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A vending machine is a machine that dispenses merchandise when a customer deposits coins or bills sufficient to purchase the desired item (as opposed to a shop, where personnel is required for every purchase).
In the United States, vending machines generally serve the purpose of selling snacks and soda pop, but are also common in busy locations to sell newspapers.
A newspaper vending machine may open the box with all newspapers after paying for one. It assumes the honesty of the customer not to take more than one, which is helped by the fact that having more is often not useful.
In Japan, with a high population density and low rates of vandalism and petty crime, there seem to be no limits to what is sold by vending machines. One can imagine anything, and it is likely that there is a vending machine available to provide it; even bottles of wine and underwear can be purchased from vending machines.
In the U.S., most vending machines are operated by individuals who buy or rent the machines, stock the merchanise, and keep some of the profits. Other machines, such as U.S. Postal Service machines are maintained by governmental or quasi-governmental entities.
Most modern vending machines have been extensively tested and designed to inhibit theft. Many of these machines are designed essentially as large safes. Every year, a few people are killed when machines topple over on them, either while trying to steal from them, or venting frustration on them, especially when a malfunction causes the machine to fail to dispense the purchased item or the proper change (leading to the humorous saying, "change is inevitable, except from a vending machine").
The actual causes to vending machine malfunction are usually many-fold. However, certain vending machines use a spiral kind of mechanism to separate and to hold back the products. When the machine vends, the spiral turns back, thus pushing the product forward and falling down to be vended. If the products and the spiral are misaligned, the spiral may turn back but not fully release the product, leaving the spiral snagged on the product and having it hang there. This may cause repercussions to the alignment of the products behind it if someone knocks the hanging product down, as the spiral must move a fixed distance.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Vending machine."
Crosswords: Vending Machine |
| English words defined with "vending machine": automat. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "vending machine": ASSEMBLY SUPERVISOR, automatic food vending machine ♦ MANAGER, FAST FOOD SERVICES ♦ QUALITY-CONTROL TECHNICIAN ♦ Real Programmers Don't Use Pascal ♦ VENDING-MACHINE ASSEMBLER. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | I hitched a ride with a vending machine repair man ("Everyday is a Winding Road"; performing artist: Sheryl Crow) | |
Clever | Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding site in cans under legs of food vending machine, San Antonio, Texas.Credit: CDC. |  | Girl putting penny into vending machine, San Antonio, Texas.Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Play | Caption |
 | Removing a returned coin from a vending machine. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Art Linkletter | The Kodak people once said to me, Mr. Linkletter, you own the world's largest automatic film vending machine. Disneyland. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Expressions using "vending machine": automatic food vending machine ♦ cigarette vending machine ♦ ticket vending machine. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "vending machine": beverage-vending machine. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "vending machine"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | automat me monedhë (vendor machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | آلة البيع يقطع نقدية. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 自動"貨機 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | prodejní automat (vendor machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | foedevareautomat (automatic food distributor, automatic food vending machine), byttepengeautomat (vending machine giving change). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | levensmiddelenautomaat (automatic food vending machine), automaat met wisselgeld (vending machine giving change). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | elintarvikeautomaatti (automatic food vending machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | distributeur automatique, distributeur. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | verkaufsautomat (automatic order, automatic slot machine, automatic vendor), automat (automat, Automat retractor, automate, automatic machine, automation, automaton, automoton, cut out, dispenser, jukebox, machine, robot, slot machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μηχανή αυτόματου πωλήσεωσ δι' ενθέσεωσ νομίσματοσ, αυτόματοσ πωλητήσ (slot machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | אוטומט מכיר". (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | árusító automata. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | distributore automatico (automatic food vending machine, automatic slot machine, slot machine). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 販売機 , 自販機 , 自動販売器 , 自動販売機 , ベンチュリ管 (bending, Benz, vent, ventilator, Venturi tube). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ベンディングマシーン , じどうは"ばいき, じは"き, は"ばいき. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | endingvay achinemay obturador automático (automat), máquina automática de venda. (various references) торговый автомат (automat, slot machine, slot-machine, vendor machine). (various references) automat (automat). (various references) expendedora automática. (various references) varuautomat (vendor machine). (various references) satış makinesi (vender, vendor), otomatik satış makinesi (slot machine). (various references) tem. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-d-e-e-g-h-i-i-m-n-n-n-v" | |
-4 letters: enchaining, evidencing, mediagenic. | |
-5 letters: achieving, deceiving, demeaning, deveining, enchained, enhancing, indigence, inveighed, machining. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)56 65 6E 64 69 6E 67 4D 61 63 68 69 6E 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010110 01100101 01101110 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01001101 01100001 01100011 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)V e n d i n g   M a c h i n e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0056 0065 006E 0064 0069 006E 0067 004D 0061 0063 0068 0069 006E 0065 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)56718070758073247676974758071 |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Sounds 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Anagrams | 13. Orthography 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
