time machine

a theoretical apparatus that would convey one to the past or future.

Origin of time machine

First recorded in 1890–95

He threw open the thick-walled door of his time-machine and pulled it shut behind him.

A Traveler in Time |August Derleth
Then the whole interior of the "time-machine" was afire; there was barely time for Hradzka to leap through the open door.

Flight From Tomorrow |Henry Beam Piper
He got into his time-machine and set out for home in the twentieth century.

A Traveler in Time |August Derleth
But now you must get to work, and build us another 'time-machine', so that we can hunt him down.

Flight From Tomorrow |Henry Beam Piper

The "time-machine" came to rest with a soft jar and a crashing of broken bushes that was audible through the sound pickup.

Flight From Tomorrow |Henry Beam Piper

time machine

(in science fiction) a machine in which people or objects can be transported into the past or the future