assembly line

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

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

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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of assembly line¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

A worker in white gloves inspects the propellers of a boxy two-seater aircraft fresh off the assembly line at a Chinese factory trialling the mass production of flying cars.

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Nezi is currently unemployed after spending years on an assembly line building steering wheels for Ford vehicles.

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Millions of migrant workers left behind villages for assembly lines on the coast.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Beijing hasn’t only upgraded its toolkit; it has replaced the craftsman with the assembly line.

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Ford invented the assembly line—and urban growth exploded.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• production line