assembly line

American  

noun

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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Discover More

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

Etymology

Origin of assembly line

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

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

From BBC • May 28, 2026

Robots can literally walk off the assembly line at the end of a shift after doing jobs that humans once did.

From Barron's • May 18, 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

In her vision, Warhol’s Factory is a literal assembly line, where actors and artists come to be molded and assembled into products, only to be cast out when they’re deemed defective.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026

A lean, fair-haired figure dressed in black detached himself from the assembly line and walked languidly toward a door that slid open to receive him.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

Related Words

• production line