Machinist

//məˈʃiː.nɪst// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A constructor of machines and engines; someone knowledgeable about machines.
  2. 2
    a craftsman skilled in operating machine tools wordnet
  3. 3
    A person skilled in the use of machine tools for fashioning metal parts or tools out of metal.
  4. 4
    A person who operates machinery.
  5. 5
    A person employed to shift scenery in a theater.

Synonyms

All synonyms
artisanbuildercraftsmanmachine operatormachinermachiner

Example

More examples

"Soon after graduating from trade school, Ray Murphy was taken on as a machinist at the local automobile plant."

Etymology

From French machiniste, from machine (“machine, mechanical device”), from Latin māchina, from Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “machine”).

Related phrases

machinist blockmachine tool

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.