machinery vs stepping-stone

machinery

noun
  • The collective parts of something which allow it to function. 

  • The working parts of a machine as a group. 

  • The machines constituting a production apparatus, in a plant etc., collectively. 

  • The literary devices used in a work, notably for dramatic effect 

stepping-stone

How often have the words machinery and stepping-stone occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )