manufacturer
Americannoun
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a person, group, or company that owns or runs a manufacturing plant.
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a person, group, or company that manufactures.
noun
Etymology
Origin of manufacturer
First recorded in 1710–20; manufacture + -er 1
Explanation
A manufacturer is a person or business that makes goods to sell. If you buy a shirt that has a "made in the USA" label, it means that the manufacturer of the shirt is in the United States. You can use the noun manufacturer for any company (or individual) that makes products, but it's most often used for things made on a very large scale, like cars, appliances, and computers. The word comes from manufacture, which as a noun originally meant "something made by hand," from the Latin roots manus, "hand," and factura, "a working."
Vocabulary lists containing manufacturer
"Ad Power," "Without Commercials," and "What's Wrong with Advertising"
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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 manufacturer can't build a car if they're missing one component."
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
Other Chinese firms on the list include search engine platform Baidu, electric car marker Nio and aircraft manufacturer Comac.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
News in May that Situational Awareness took a stake in T1 Energy helped send shares in the solar manufacturer up 23% in a day when it recorded its second-highest trading volume ever.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
The recall of the wipes — Target brand Up & Up Fragrance Free and Cucumber Scented Baby Wipes — came after Target and the manufacturer, Sapro Temizlik Urunleri, received numerous customer complaints of “product discoloration.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
“A major manufacturer of androids,” he said thoughtfully, “invests its surplus capital on living animals.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
