apparatus

noun

1. The entirety of means whereby a specific production is made existent or task accomplished.
2. A complex machine or instrument.
3. An assortment of tools and instruments.
4. A bureaucratic organization, especially one influenced by political patronage.
5. A vehicle used for emergency response.
6. Any of the equipment on which the gymnasts perform their movements.
7. Any of the objects that the gymnasts wield while performing and used as part of the performance itself.
8. A complex, highly modified weapon (typically not a firearm); a weaponized “Rube Goldberg machine.”
9. In an edition, a system of notations providing information, especially regarding variant readings of a text (a critical apparatus)