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• industrial revolution
  industrial revolution

  noun

  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.
• Industrial Revolution
  Industrial Revolution

  noun

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

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

In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, this was true of the coal industry.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have roughly tripled global nitrogen deposition.

From Science Daily • Jun. 2, 2026

"The Industrial Revolution transformed the labour market, people's lives, hegemony, and power dynamics," said Marijana Grbesa, political science professor at the University of Zagreb, and a speaker at an AI conference in the Vatican.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

By extending the productive hours of the factory floor and the laboratory, the bulb accelerated the pace of the Industrial Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

These multinationals went global for markets and labor, spearheaded first by the expansion of the Dutch and English joint-stock companies and the Industrial Revolution.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman