sewing machine

American

noun

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.

sewing machine British

noun

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

sewing machines

plural

Etymology

Origin of sewing machine

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50

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.

Some 45 original stockholders invested alongside Hawk, a sewing machine salesman.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 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 1833, he invented a lock-stitch sewing machine that used two threads, one passing through a loop in the other, with both threads interlocking.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026

Alavi was given a range of equipment including a sewing machine, fabric and cash for a solar panel -- essential in a country where power cuts are commonplace.

From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026

“I started as a thread cutter, and now I’m a sewing machine operator.”

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

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