manufacture
Americannoun
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manufactures
plural
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the making of goods or wares by manual labor or by machinery, especially on a large scale.
the manufacture of television sets.
-
the making or producing of anything; generation.
the manufacture of body cells.
-
the thing or material manufactured; product.
Plastic is an important manufacture.
verb (used with object)
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manufactures,
present (3rd person singular)
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manufactured,
past participle, past
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manufacturing
present participle
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to make or produce by hand or machinery, especially on a large scale.
- Synonyms:
- build
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to work up (material) into form for use.
to manufacture cotton.
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to invent fictitiously; fabricate; concoct.
to manufacture an account of the incident.
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to produce in a mechanical way without inspiration or originality.
to manufacture a daily quota of poetry.
verb
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to process or make (a product) from a raw material, esp as a large-scale operation using machinery
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(tr) to invent or concoct
to manufacture an excuse
noun
-
the production of goods, esp by industrial processes
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a manufactured product
-
the creation or production of anything
Synonym Usage
Manufacture, assemble, fabricate apply to processes in industry. Manufacture, originally to make by hand, now means to make by machine or by industrial process: to manufacture rubber tires. To assemble is to fit together the manufactured parts of something mechanical: to assemble an automobile. To fabricate is to construct or build by fitting standardized parts together: to fabricate houses. See also make 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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manufacturingnoun
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nonmanufacturenoun
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nonmanufacturingnoun
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semimanufacturingnoun
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premanufactureverb (used with object)
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manufacturableadjective
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manufacturaladjective
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nonmanufacturedadjective
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semimanufacturedadjective
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unmanufacturableadjective
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unmanufacturedadjective
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well-manufacturedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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manufacturesimple
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manufacturessimple
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have manufacturedperfect
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has manufacturedperfect
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am manufacturingprogressive
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are manufacturingprogressive
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is manufacturingprogressive
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have been manufacturingperfect progressive
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has been manufacturingperfect progressive
Past
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manufacturedsimple
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had manufacturedperfect
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was manufacturingprogressive
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were manufacturingprogressive
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had been manufacturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of manufacture
First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle French manufacture “the action or process of making; a factory,” equivalent to Latin manū “by hand”, ablative singular of manus “hand” + Middle French facture “making, construction” (from Late Latin factūra “action of creating, a creation, piece of handiwork,” from Latin factūra “act of fashioning; metal working,” a derivative of facere “to make, do”); the verb is derivative of the noun
Explanation
To manufacture something, is to make or construct it, usually for industry and sale. Unless you make all your own clothes, a company probably had to manufacture them. Manufacture is generally associated with industry and factories. Henry Ford, for instance, revolutionized industry by using assembly lines to manufacture Model Ts. But manufacture can also be used for the natural word, like bees that manufacture honey. Occasionally it use used more generally to mean to construct by putting parts together. And in a pinch, you can manufacture — or make — the truth, which is a creative way to say “lie.”
Vocabulary lists containing manufacture
Make Do: Fac
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Automobiles
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
On Holding uses robotic arms to manufacture sneakers in minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
By 1935, Ford was using roughly a bushel of soybeans in the manufacture of every automobile.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Using microorganisms to manufacture useful substances is already well established.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
As long ago as 2003, the Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom invented a thought experiment he dubbed a "paperclip maximiser", in which a superintelligent AI is told to manufacture as many paperclips as it can.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labor power without producing anything that can be consumed.
From "1984" by George Orwell
BRP manufactures Can-Am ATVs and its popular personal watercraft Sea-Doo, which includes the Sea-Doo Switch pontoon boat lineup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
What got far less attention was the story about the owner of an Ohio factory that manufactures parts for cars and trucks, who told the New York Times about his Haitian workers.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026
However, according to local authorities, Zheng'an as a whole manufactures 2.5 million a year, living up to the name plastered on banners across town: "Capital of Guitars, City of Music".
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
The plant in Garden Grove manufactures the canopy for the F-35 fighter jet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
In the United States they include major corporations famous for their homey domestic manufactures.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Today, they’re manufactured from aluminum with reflective sheeting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
It is estimated that around 60,000 Luger P06s were manufactured.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
The process: Charles wanted to keep his monthly mortgage payment below $1,300 so he focused on manufactured homes, instead of more expensive single-family homes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Virginia Tech colleague Xi Chen contributed an economic and production analysis, developing models for how the oil might eventually be manufactured on a much larger scale.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
Textbooks talk about the Triangle Trade: Ships set out from Europe carrying fabrics, clothes, and simple manufactured goods to Africa, where they sold their cargoes and bought people.
From "Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science" by Marc Aronson
The company also showcased expanded manufacturing capabilities using a robotic-arm to create a seamless, laceless upper part of a sneaker in minutes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Researcher Le Hong Hiep of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute noted the growing demands of Vietnam's manufacturing sector and the country's own issues with energy production -- but said politics also played a part.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Automation, outsourcing and foreign competition were already reshaping blue-collar America when U.S. manufacturing jobs peaked in 1979.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Beyond tumor control, one of the most significant potential advantages of the platform is manufacturing.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
His father was employed for many years at a manufacturing plant operated by Crown Cork & Seal, which makes beverage cans.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
