cog in the wheel

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 wheel anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the wheel—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 wheel, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

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 wheel anymore! Oh, I'm but a cog in the wheel—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 wheel, doing all the printing and copying without any recognition whatsoever.

Also, cog in the machine. One who holds a minor but necessary post in a large organization, as in Frank knew he was just a cog in the wheel of this giant corporation. This term alludes to the role of the mechanical cog, one of the teeth on a wheel or gear that, by engaging other teeth, transmits or receives motion. Used figuratively since about 1930, it sometimes is put as small cog in a large wheel, emphasizing a person's lack of importance.