factory
Americannoun
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a building or group of buildings with facilities for the manufacture of goods.
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any place producing a uniform product, without concern for individuality.
They call it a law school, but it's just a degree factory.
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(formerly) an establishment for factors and merchants carrying on business in a foreign country.
noun
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a building or group of buildings containing a plant assembly for the manufacture of goods
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( as modifier )
a factory worker
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rare a trading station maintained by factors in a foreign country
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(formerly) a main trading station for the exchange and transshipment of furs
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of factory
From the Medieval Latin word factōria, dating back to 1550–60. See factor, -y 3
Explanation
A factory is a big building in which products are made, like Willie Wonka's fictional Chocolate Factory, which was famous for producing (among other sweets and treats) the one-of-a-kind Everlasting Gobstopper. Early relatives of the word factory were in use as far back as the 1500s, long before the Industrial Revolution made the modern idea of a factory a reality. Of course, a big building with many different types of machinery inside it isn't the only definition of a factory. A successful pop group that scores several number one songs in a row could be called "a hit factory."
Vocabulary lists containing factory
Make Do: Fac
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Russia - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
SK Telecom and Nvidia plan "to build a gigawatt-scale AI Cloud in Korea... with the first AI factory planned to come online in 2027", a joint statement said.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
Reynolds said on 20 May 2021, a team led by Swansea council trading standards visited Kismet's factory in Chelmsford and "multiple concerns" were raised about production, packaging and labelling.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
The factory sector no longer looks like dead weight.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
This is what some of Friday’s release is made of — all the trimmings, tidbits and overstock that would otherwise end up in landfills or on the factory floor.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
They represented shopkeepers, street sweepers, a factory owner, a canal bargeman—all people who had realized during Father’s illness what he meant to them.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
