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Glite Dictionary
knitting machine

knitting machine

1 3.7
A machine that makes cloth from yarn by joining loops
  • noun
  • /ˈnɪtɪŋ məˈʃin/
  • Specialized
translation icon : máquina de tejer
  • At the factory, workers operate a knitting machine to create colorful sweaters efficiently.

Then the production guys get the dummy, the photo, all the instructions, and they have to replicate that handmade design on their big knitting machines.

Examples

  • They shared their work with the world, and since then, following an open hardware model, they and many others have contributed hardware and software improvements, smoothed the workflow, and allowed other models of knitting machines to be hacked.

    Blog text (28)

  • SWEATSHOP DAY: Row upon row of knitting machines stand idle on the huge, dimly lit shop floor.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • This is not the last you shall hear of knitting machines.

    Blog text (28)

  • Information related to the Brother knitting machine hacks can be found here.

    Blog text (28)

  • Then yarns are sent to the mill, where huge circular knitting machines weave them into sheets of rough, grayish fabric treated with heat and chemicals until they turn soft and white.

  • The new knitting machine can produce intricate patterns that were once difficult to achieve by hand.

  • She was excited to try out her grandmother's old knitting machine for making scarves.

Synonyms

textile machine
vsknitting machine
  • Specialized
3.7

A machine that makes yarn or cloth used for clothes and other items

is narrower, making fabric by interlocking loops of yarn automatically

Surface Forms

knitting machine singular
knitting machines plural

Morphology

knitting + machine

The meaning 'a machine used to produce knitted fabrics' is directly and compositionally derived from 'knitting' (the craft of making fabric by interlocking yarn loops) modifying 'machine' (a powered device). This modifier+head compound pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The compound noun knitting machine comes from the idea of doing hand knitting by a machine: rows of small needles quickly make loops in yarn, copying the hand motion. That's why the name means 'a machine used to make knitted cloth automatically'.