stroj

1. (military) formation; ranks
   Vojnici su stajali mirno u stroju. — The soldiers stood at attention in formation.
   Učenici su stali u stroj ispred škole. — The pupils lined up in formation in front of the school.
2. Croat. (of a system) machine; machinery; apparatus
   Partijski stroj je radio punom snagom pred izbore. — The party machine was working at full power before the elections.
   Ratni stroj se nije mogao zaustaviti. — The war machine could not be stopped.
3. Croat. machine; engine
   Parni stroj je promenio industriju. — The steam engine changed industry.
4. colloq. Croat. (of a person) machine
   Taj igrač je pravi stroj, nikad se ne umara. — That player is a real machine, he never gets tired.

In Serbia stroj usually means only a formation (ranks). The senses 'machine', 'apparatus' and 'person who works like a machine' are Croatian; in Serbia: mašina (of equipment), mašinerija or aparat (partijska mašinerija, ratna mašinerija, državni aparat), and mašina (of a person).