milling machine

American

noun

a machine tool for rotating a cutter milling cutter to produce plane or formed surfaces on a workpiece, usually by moving the work past the cutter.

milling machine British

noun

a machine tool in which a horizontal arbor or vertical spindle rotates a cutting tool above a horizontal table, which is used to move a workpiece

"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 milling machine

First recorded in 1875–80

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.

When San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer first saw the Coast Runner milling machine being marketed as some state-of-the-art product for creative people in California, she was livid.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2024

Once 3-D modeling was complete, the files were programmed into a computer-controlled milling machine that resembles a cross between a band saw and a lathe.

From Scientific American • Jun. 29, 2022

A milling machine then removes the bran, and a polishing machine smooths the now-white rice.

From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2021

The milling machine had been converted from steam power to run via a drive shaft attached to a tractor.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2018

“Your father was pretty mad,” he said over the shriek of a milling machine.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023