Sentence:  His master glanced up quickly, and removed the letter from his hands. "I'm surprised at you, James," he remarked severely. "A secretary should control itself. Don't forget that the perfect secretary is an <WSD>it</WSD>: an automatic machine—a thing incapable of feeling.…" 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  One who is neither a he nor a she; a creature; a dehumanized being.