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• bathing-machine
  bathing-machine

  noun

  a small bathhouse on wheels formerly used as a dressing room and in which bathers could also be transported from the beach to the water.
• bathing machine
  bathing machine

  noun

  a small hut, on wheels so that it could be pulled to the sea, used in the 18th and 19th centuries for bathers to change their clothes

bathing-machine

American  

[bay-thing-muh-sheen] / ˈbeɪ ðɪŋ məˌʃin /

noun

1. a small bathhouse on wheels formerly used as a dressing room and in which bathers could also be transported from the beach to the water.

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bathing machine British  

/ ˈbeɪðɪŋ /

noun

1. a small hut, on wheels so that it could be pulled to the sea, used in the 18th and 19th centuries for bathers to change their clothes

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Etymology

Origin of bathing-machine

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bathing-machine bathing machine

There was a bath at the beach toward mid-day, followed by a cold collation in the shelter of a rude chalet, which served the ladies in the absence of the customary bathing-machine.

From In the Footprints of the Padres by Charles Warren Stoddard

No other carriage being in readiness, a bathing-machine was provided for the reception of the Prince, who was conveyed, amid a detachment of soldiers, to the prison in the upper town.

From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various

He then led them to a bathing-machine; in which the Admiral was civilly, though with great perplexity, labouring to hold discourse with the Bishop.

From The Wanderer (Volume 5 of 5) or, Female Difficulties by Fanny Burney

I say, Jeremiah, if ever I get drowned, mind you rush to the bathing-machine and see if there's a copy of 'Ally Sloper' or 'Tit-Bits'.

From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan

The van inside was divided in two—something after the manner of a bathing-machine, such as I daresay most children have often seen.

From Us An Old Fashioned Story by Mrs. Molesworth

More than £30,000 was raised to help build the sauna in the style of a 19th Century bathing machine, which since 2020 has been set up permanently at Walpole Bay.

From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2025

The bathing machine was then rolled or dragged far enough into the surf that the lady could slip directly down its steps and into the water without much risk of being seen thus clothed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2022

They wore voluminous bathing costumes and even made use of a peculiar Victorian contraption called the bathing machine, essentially a small wooden or canvas hut on wheels.

From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2015

Immediately the royal person "became immersed beneath the waves" a band, concealed in a bathing machine struck up "God save Great George our King."

From Wanderings in Wessex An Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter by Edric Holmes

I took the whole terrace forthwith, speedily instituted a bathing machine fitted up as an ambulance to meet the down-train, and here I am in three months literally turning patients away.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, March 4th 1914 by Various