factory

/ˈfæktəri/

/ˈfæktɔri/

Other forms: factories

A factory is a big building in which products are made, like Willie Wonka's fictional Chocolate Factory, which was famous for producing (among other sweets and treats) the one-of-a-kind Everlasting Gobstopper.

Early relatives of the word factory were in use as far back as the 1500s, long before the Industrial Revolution made the modern idea of a factory a reality. Of course, a big building with many different types of machinery inside it isn't the only definition of a factory. A successful pop group that scores several number one songs in a row could be called "a hit factory."

Definitions of factory

1. noun

   a plant consisting of one or more buildings with facilities for manufacturing
   synonyms: manufactory, manufacturing plant, mill

   types:

   assembly plant

   a factory where manufactured parts are assembled into a finished product

   auto factory, automobile factory, car factory

   a factory where automobiles are manufactured

   cannery

   a factory where food is canned

   chemical plant

   an industrial plant where chemicals are produced

   foundry, metalworks

   factory where metal castings are produced

   lumbermill, sawmill

   a mill for dressing logs and lumber

   paper mill

   a mill where paper is manufactured

   stamp mill, stamping mill

   a mill in which ore is crushed with stamps

   steel factory, steel mill, steel plant, steelworks

   a factory where steel is made

   sweatshop

   factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry

   textile mill

   a factory for making textiles

   armory, armoury, arsenal

   a place where arms are manufactured

   battery, stamp battery

   a series of stamps operated in one mortar for crushing ores

   bell foundry

   a foundry where bells are cast

   cotton mill

   a textile mill for making cotton textiles

   iron foundry

   a foundry where cast iron is produced

   maquiladora

   an assembly plant in Mexico (near the United States border); parts are shipped into Mexico and the finished product is shipped back across the border

   quartz battery, quartz mill

   a stamp mill for stamping quartz

   rolling mill

   steel mill where metal is rolled into sheets and bars

   type of:

   industrial plant, plant, works

   buildings for carrying on industrial labor