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

"You can imagine a biosynthetic pathway almost as an assembly line," said Miller, who earned his Ph.D. in the Hamberger Lab.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

The company plans to build a second assembly line for the Tacoma at the San Antonio plant where it currently assembles larger pickups and SUVs, adding 2,000 jobs, it said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

In Dresden, in east Germany late last year, the final car rolled off the assembly line at Volkswagen's "Transparent Factory", built to showcase the pinnacle of European industrial power.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

Though his assembly line lay four years in the future, Ford’s genius for engineering was already apparent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

In one tiny section of the main arena, at least twenty people form an assembly line behind a workstation of potted plants.

From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera

Related Words

• production line