bathing machine
1
9.9
- noun
- Archaic
:
máquina de baño
- Visitors would line up to use the colorful bathing machine parked along the shore.
Examples
-
An excellent judge, come to that, as Harry Tudwell the stablemaster would attest, or Trunky Thomas, the proprietor of the bathing machines, both of whom relied on Patrick's reports concerning the visitors who stayed at the White Horse Inn.
Fiction book (1999) -
The victorian beach was bustling with families using the bathing machine to change into their swimwear.
-
I imagine you'll be trying the bathing machines one of these days.
Fiction book (1991) -
In the 19th century, a bathing machine provided a private space for women to dress before entering the water.
How Private
Surface Forms
Morphology
The word 'bathing' makes the relation to bathing clear so learners will infer the expression refers to something used for bathing, but the historical meaning (a wheeled changing hut) is not predictable from 'machine' which usually denotes a powered device. The combination is therefore partially transparent: related to constituents but misleading and requiring prior exposure to recover the specific historical sense.
Etymology
Bathing machine comes from old beach practice: a small wooden hut on wheels that could be rolled into the sea so people could change and enter the water out of sight. The name is literal: a bathing hut moved like a simple machine to help people bathe with 'privacy'.