machinist

[muh-shee-nist]

noun

1. a person who operates machinery, especially a skilled operator of machine tools.

2. a person who makes or repairs machines.

3. U.S. Navy.,  a warrant officer whose duty is to assist the engineering officer in the engine room.

machinist

/ məˈʃiːnɪst /

noun

1. a person who operates machines to cut or process materials

2. a maker or repairer of machines

Word History and Origins

Origin of machinist¹

First recorded in 1700–10; machine + -ist

Example Sentences

China has become the de facto manufacturer of the world’s goods, owing not only to its enormous population of engineers, technicians and machinists but also its 2-million-plus army of industrial robots.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A naturalised US citizen, Wei served as a machinist's mate, held a security clearance and had access to sensitive information about the ship and other ships in the Pacific Fleet.

Read more on BBC

By 1992, he was in his second decade as a machinist in Orange County.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In its first decade of operation, Nila used American manufacturers for most parts, relying on a machinist in Temecula for the metal housing and a plant in North Carolina for the LEDs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

All around him, workers are cutting the leather into the right shape to hand it to the machinist.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• operator 
• worker