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Showing results for lathe. Search instead for lathee.
Synonyms

lathe

American  
[leyth] / leɪð /

noun

  1. a machine for use in working wood, metal, etc., that holds the material and rotates it about a horizontal axis against a tool that shapes it.

verb (used with object)

lathed, lathing

  1. to cut, shape, or otherwise treat on a lathe.

lathe 1 British  
/ leɪð /

noun

  1. a machine for shaping, boring, facing, or cutting a screw thread in metal, wood, etc, in which the workpiece is turned about a horizontal axis against a fixed tool

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to shape, bore, or cut a screw thread in or on (a workpiece) on a lathe

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lathe 2 British  
/ leɪð /

noun

  1. history any of the former administrative divisions of Kent

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of lathe

1300–50; Middle English: frame, stand, lathe; compare Old Norse hlath stack ( lade ), Danish -lad in væverlad weaver's batten, savelad saw bench

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.

A farmer who owned a Model T didn’t need a forge or metal lathe to fix his engine; he could simply order a replacement part—or cannibalize one from a wrecked car in a junkyard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Bob chats against the buzzing backdrop of whirring industrial tools and woodwork machines in the next room - a laser cutter, bandsaw, lathe and a 3D printer among them.

From BBC • Nov. 1, 2024

To do the work, the team used a large lathe to spin a detached brake rotor and caliper.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2024

Autumn, who has been working on a machine that resembles a large lathe — a ringer, which generates telephone rings — passes De Jaen and the rectifier.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 26, 2024

The injury would end his relatively comfortable job as a camp mechanic and lathe operator.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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.