Clockwork

Clockwork

/ˈkläkˌwərk/

Adjective/Noun

Adjective

1. something driven by a system consisting of gears and springs used to drive a clock, toy, or other machine

Evoking widespread wonder, hydraulic, spring-powered and clockwork automata proliferated in Europe, from mechanized angels in churches to Neptune automata in grottoes.

“Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots”, Nature

Noun

2. a system consisting of gears and springs used to drive a clock, toy, or other machine

The course of the seasons is a piece of clockwork, with a cuckoo to call when it is spring.

– Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799)