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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  

[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.

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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

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

From The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete by Forster, John

A bathing-machine boy comes trotting his horse through the water, and, backing up by the rock on which the distressed lady stands, bids her get on.

From Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, August, 1878 by Various

I gazed along the shore in each direction, hoping to discover a bathing-machine, and so satisfy myself that the island was inhabited.

From Bill the Minder by Robinson, W. Heath (William Heath)

I have since learnt from him that the discovery of my card in the bathing-machine shook him up—well, pretty much as the footprint on the sand shook up Robinson Crusoe.

From Foe-Farrell by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

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 Stoddard, Charles Warren

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

This species of bathing machine was a small wooden cabin set on very high wheels with steps leading down from a door in the front.

From Women's Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States by Kidwell, Claudia B.

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

From My Father as I Recall Him by Dickens, Mamie