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mill-hand

mill-hand

6.9
A person who works in a mill or factory operating machines
  • noun
  • /mɪl-hænd/
translation icon : trabajador de molino
  • The mill hands worked tirelessly to ensure the factory met its production goals.

Examples

  • Most mill hands in this factory operate the machinery that produces textiles.

  • Mothers and daughters as true comrades, PR, s s and mill hands as real friends, all stepping out together to convert England.

  • I want to get to know some mill hands.

  • The mill hands go to church every Sunday.

  • There's your new mill hands, Mrs. Kennedy.

  • All those truck drivers, mill hands, and hog farmers.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • She could mix with the mill hands at the bar or meet with a group of lawyers.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • To become a mechanic, a mill-hand, he would have to adopt the English civilization, the English customs, and become, in the main, an Englishman.

    Blog text (23)
  • Thus, the authors claimed that Anglo-Saxon mill hands in the South had a lower standard of living than Lithuanian textile workers in New England because they simply did not "push from below" even though they had resided longer in this country.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Many mill hands gathered at the community center to discuss their working conditions.

Synonyms

hand
vsmill-hand
4.9

A worker who does physical work on a ship or farm

is specific to factory or mill machine operation rather than general labour
factory worker
vsmill-hand
23 1.3

A person who works in a factory doing physical work on machines and assembly lines

typically refers to those who operate or focus on machinery specifically
machinist
vsmill-hand
18 4.9

A skilled person who operates and repairs machines to make metal parts

focuses on general mill or factory machine operation rather than specialized maintenance
workman
vsmill-hand
13 1.4

A person who does physical jobs like building or fixing things

is gender neutral and focuses on machine operation in mills or factories
miller
vsmill-hand
4 3.8

A person who works in a mill to grind grain into flour

applies more broadly to mill or factory machine operators not only grain processing
millworker
vsmill-hand
1 2.9

A person who works in a mill operating machines to make things

is the general name for this type of factory machinery worker
mill-girl
vsmill-hand
  • Archaic
7.5

A girl or young woman who works in a factory making cloth

is gender neutral and refers to any person operating mill or factory machines
spindler
vsmill-hand
  • Archaic
8.2

A person who runs machines that spin thread in a cloth factory

covers machine operation in mills broadly and not only spinning tasks
3.8

A person who uses a sewing machine to join cloth in a factory or workshop

is used for machine operation in various mills or factories beyond sewing

Surface Forms

mill-hand singular
mill-hands plural

Morphology

mill-hand = mill + hand (transparent) = mill + hand

The compound is a straightforward combination meaning 'a worker at a mill', which a B1 learner can derive from 'mill' + 'hand'.

Etymology

The word mill-hand comes from two simple English parts: mill, a 'place that grinds grain' or an early 'factory', and hand, which has long meant a 'worker', as in farmhand. So a mill-hand is literally a worker in a mill or factory who works the machines.