factory
Americannoun
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factories
plural
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a building or group of buildings with facilities for the manufacture of goods.
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any place producing a uniform product, without concern for individuality.
They call it a law school, but it's just a degree factory.
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(formerly) an establishment for factors and merchants carrying on business in a foreign country.
noun
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a building or group of buildings containing a plant assembly for the manufacture of goods
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( as modifier )
a factory worker
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rare a trading station maintained by factors in a foreign country
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(formerly) a main trading station for the exchange and transshipment of furs
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of factory
From the Medieval Latin word factōria, dating back to 1550–60. See factor, -y 3
Explanation
A factory is a big building in which products are made, like Willie Wonka's fictional Chocolate Factory, which was famous for producing (among other sweets and treats) the one-of-a-kind Everlasting Gobstopper. Early relatives of the word factory were in use as far back as the 1500s, long before the Industrial Revolution made the modern idea of a factory a reality. Of course, a big building with many different types of machinery inside it isn't the only definition of a factory. A successful pop group that scores several number one songs in a row could be called "a hit factory."
Vocabulary lists containing factory
Make Do: Fac
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Russia - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At Ferrari's factory in Maranello, the medical team studied how pit crews organised roles, communication and handovers.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
So for a $30 toy that's between 60 and 18 cents of the $6 the factory charges to make it.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Yet interest rates never came up during her visit, which ended with a tour of the busy factory floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
"I'm in shock right now and haven't been able to contact my family," Luis Poveda, a factory worker in Santiago de Veraguas, another city in central Panama, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Because when the workers processed the pineapple, they discarded the cores in a huge pile behind the factory.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
The Chinese factories remain busy, he says, because a single toy can undergo more than one manufacturing process, from moulding the parts, to adding electronics, sewing materials, and final assembly.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
This often requires it travelling to different factories.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Much of the money has been wasted, financing factories and apartment blocks for which there isn’t enough demand, sparking debilitating price wars, and hurting profits and wages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
But many disused mills and factories have given way to apartment blocks, trendy cafes and co-working spaces.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
As punishment, the Soviets wanted Germany to pay high reparations and to be forbidden to rebuild their factories and farms.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
