sewing machine

American  

noun

• sewing machines
  plural

1. any of various foot-operated or electric machines for sewing or making stitches, ranging from machines with a shuttle for a spool of thread and a needle for sewing garments to industrial machines for sewing leather, book pages together, etc.

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sewing machine British  

noun

1. any machine designed to sew material. It is now usually driven by electric motor but is sometimes operated by a foot treadle or by hand

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sewing machines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sewing machine

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sewing machine

One invented the telegraph, another created the first revolver, still a third was the father of the American sewing machine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

Zaghari-Ratcliffe added there was only one, old industrial sewing machine in the prison and she was assigned to be in charge of its use.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

Still, sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is not always visible from behind a classroom sewing machine.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

In fact, she declined her father’s offer of a sewing machine to speed up the work, fearing that mechanized sewing would eliminate jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026

She might be able to turn a thousand scraps of fabrics into a beautiful dress on her sewing machine, but she can’t figure out how to take a picture like I can.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina