assembly line

American  

noun

1. an arrangement of machines, tools, and workers in which a product is assembled by having each perform a specific, successive operation on an incomplete unit as it passes by in a series of stages organized in a direct line.

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assembly line British  

noun

1. a sequence of machines, tools, operations, workers, etc, in a factory, arranged so that at each stage a further process is carried out

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assembly line Cultural  

1. A line of factory workers and equipment along which a product being assembled passes consecutively from operation to operation until completed.

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Assembly lines are found in many industries but are particularly associated with automobile manufacturing.

Etymology

Origin of assembly line

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Example Sentences

It’s spending billions to convert its Model S and X capacity into a robot assembly line in Fremont, California.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

Tesla said last month that the first Cybercab had rolled off the assembly line as the company aims to begin volume production of a vehicle that lacks both pedals and a steering wheel.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 4, 2026

Thus the appeal of giving residential construction the Henry Ford assembly line treatment.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2026

In clipped, fast-moving scenes, Mr. Sayles shifts between the boardroom and the assembly line, and radiates out to develop the roles of attendant characters, from journalists to labor activists to gangsters and rumrunners.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

Our assembly line was the grill; our heavy machinery, the soda fountain.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Related Words

• production line