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Synonyms

lawn mower

American  
Or lawnmower

noun

  1. a hand-operated or motor-driven machine for cutting the grass of a lawn.

lawn mower British  

noun

  1. a hand-operated or power-operated machine with rotary blades for cutting grass on lawns

"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 lawn mower

First recorded in 1865–70

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.

It is like putting diesel in a lawn mower.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 16, 2026

Last compared managing agents to powering a lawn mower: crank it long enough and it starts running on its own.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

This is Le Mow, an annual 12-hour lawn mower race in Wisborough Green, known as the most affordable way to take part in competitive motorsport.

From BBC • Aug. 17, 2025

About the size of a riding lawn mower, the machine chews through about eight barrels of batteries an hour, eight times faster than the drum roller method.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2025

I never really knew my grandfather, but the lawn mower had come from him.

From "Lawn Boy Returns" by Gary Paulsen

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.