cog in the machine

a cog in the machine

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a cog in the machine anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the machine—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just cogs in the machine, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.
See also: cog, machine

cog in the machine

Someone or something that is functionally necessary but of small significance or importance within a larger operation or organization. I'm tired of working in this thankless IT support job. I don't want to be just a cog in the machine anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the machine—it took the whole team to get this product to market so quickly. They don't care about us interns at all. We're just cogs in the machine, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.
See also: cog, machine
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

a cog in the maˈchine/ˈwheel

(informal) a person who plays a small part in a large organization or plan: The firm tries hard to make its employees feel that they are more than simply cogs in the wheel.
See also: cog, machine, wheel
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also:
References in periodicals archive ?
Chances are you weren't hired to be a smooth-running cog in the machine of commerce.
He had a hand in the success, but was no more than a cog in the machine."
To a government bent on suppressing speech, this mode of organization presents opportunities: Control any cog in the machine, and you can half the whole apparatus.
The whole installation had an air of corporate condescension about it, pointing to the office worker not just as a cog in the machine but as the emotionally stunted child of the parent company.