industrial revolution

American  

[in-duhs-tree-uhl rev-uh-loo-shuhn] / ɪnˈdʌs tri əl ˌrɛv əˈlu ʃən /

noun

1. none the industrial revolution or the Industrial Revolution the totality of the changes in economic and social organization that began about 1760 in England and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines, such as the power loom and the steam engine, and by the concentration of industry in large establishments.

2. any period of change to the economic and social organization of a country, region, etc., that is characterized by the replacement of hand tools with power-driven machines and the concentration of industry in large establishments.

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Industrial Revolution British  

noun

1. the transformation in the 18th and 19th centuries of first Britain and then other W European countries and the US into industrial nations

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Industrial Revolution Cultural  

1. The rapid industrial growth that began in England during the middle of the eighteenth century and then spread over the next 50 years to many other countries, including the United States. The revolution depended on devices such as the steam engine (see James Watt), which were invented at a rapidly increasing rate during the period. The Industrial Revolution brought on a rapid concentration of people in cities and changed the nature of work for many people. (See Luddites.)

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Etymology

Origin of industrial revolution

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

But the scale of disruption today is predicted to be greater than anything that’s happened since the industrial revolution.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

We also approach the 250th anniversary of James Watt’s first commercial steam engine going on-line in March 1776, starting an industrial revolution.

From Barron's • Jan. 13, 2026

Some investors see AI as the next industrial revolution — and Sallee suggests playing the theme through shares of a century-old company.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 10, 2026

We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution, the one focused on artificial intelligence and the reasoning machine.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

We not only take it for granted—we tend to talk about the biologic revolution as though expecting to make profits from it, rather like a version of last century’s industrial revolution.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas