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

Britain's 200-year-old canal network was once the backbone of the country's economic transformation during the Industrial Revolution, but is now crumbling, experts say.

From Barron's

Robotics will help “usher in the third Industrial Revolution, driving $25 trillion of combined robot revenues by 2050,” says Jonas.

From Barron's

“This is the start of the fourth industrial revolution.”

From Barron's

"The people here have always had the same spirit and workforce ethic as before. North Lanarkshire didn't just power the industrial revolution, this leap in technology makes us the natural home to lead the next one."

From BBC

If Samuel Slater was the father of the American Industrial Revolution, as President Andrew Jackson declared, then Moses Brown was the nation’s first venture capitalist.

From Barron's