Jump To:

• 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  

[bey-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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of bathing-machine

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

The others were dull, blasé-looking creatures compared to him; indeed, he was far too fine for a mere bathing-machine, and had a lovely cushiony back like the animals on which beautiful ladies pirouet in circuses.

From The Chauffeur and the Chaperon by Anderson, Karl

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 De Morgan, William Frend

At one he disappears, and presently emerges from a bathing-machine, and may be seen—a kind of salmon-coloured porpoise—splashing about in the ocean.

From The Letters of Charles Dickens Vol. 3, 1836-1870 by Dickens, Mamie

It’s hardly the time of year for a romance to end in a bathing-machine.

From The Lunatic at Large by Clouston, J. Storer (Joseph Storer)

He had never in his life so much as heard a bo'sun's pipe and could scarcely distinguish a battleship from a bathing-machine.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, 1920-01-14 by Seaman, Owen, Sir