cog

Wheel's metal tooth

A cog is one of the teeth or projections on the rim of a gear or wheel that meshes with another gear to transmit motion.

By extension, cog refers to a person who is just one small part of a large organization or system, usually with the implication that they are unimportant or replaceable: I'm just a cog in the machine.

The phrase captures the feeling of being a minor, interchangeable component in something much bigger than oneself.

machinery

gear

Toothed wheel or belongings

toothCalcified jaw structure
sprocketToothed wheel for chains
pinionToothed wheel, small

wheel · axle · bearing · spindle · pulley · cam · crank · shaft · rotor · ratchet

metaphor

component

Element of a system

essentialFundamentally necessary
integralAntiderivative or crucial component
vitalEssential or sustaining existence

crucial · worker · piece · part · function · role · system · organization · contributor · employee

steampunk

clockwork

Spring-driven gear system

mechanicalOperated by machinery
VictorianOf a prim era
brassCopper-zinc metal mixture

copper · industrial · retro · aesthetic · goggles · contraption · apparatus · gears · springs · invention

watercraft

cargo

Transported goods

medievalOf the Middle Ages
merchantOne who sells wares
vesselReceptacle for contents

ship · Hanseatic · Baltic · trade · sailing · hull · mast · broadside · clinker · carvel

cog

gear

component

clockwork

cargo

cog

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

Family