assembly line

American  

noun

assembly lines plural

1. an arrangement of machines, tools, and workers in which a product is assembled by having each perform a specific, successive operation on an incomplete unit as it passes by in a series of stages organized in a direct line.

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assembly line British  

noun

1. a sequence of machines, tools, operations, workers, etc, in a factory, arranged so that at each stage a further process is carried out

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assembly line Cultural  

1. A line of factory workers and equipment along which a product being assembled passes consecutively from operation to operation until completed.

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Assembly lines are found in many industries but are particularly associated with automobile manufacturing.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• assembly lines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of assembly line

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assembly line

The cost of robots has fallen while it remains expensive to redesign the assembly line.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

These days, King is one of several young assemblers on Lockheed’s PAC-3 missile assembly line.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 17, 2026

Toyota 7203 1.36%increase; green up pointing triangle Motor is considering investing $2 billion to add a vehicle assembly line near its manufacturing facility in San Antonio, Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

As for Optimus, assembly line production in Fremont, California, is slated to begin later this year, with significant volumes planned for 2027.

From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026

Lourdes gets a better job on an assembly line for $9.05 an hour—$13.50 when she works overtime.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Related Words

• production line