From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfactoryfac‧to‧ry /ˈfæktəri/ ●●● S2 W2 noun (plural factories) [countable] TIFa building or group of buildings in which goods are produced in large quantities, using machines a car factory factory workersCOLLOCATIONSNOUN + factorya car/textile/shoe etc factoryThere is a large car factory where many of the local people work.factory + NOUNa factory workerThe factory workers are threatening to go on strike.a factory ownerThe factory owner placed a large order for some new equipment.a factory managerHe held the position of factory manager.a factory inspector (=an official whose job is to check that laws or rules related to factories are being obeyed)Factory inspectors reported that safety precautions had been ignored.the factory gates (=the entrance to a factory)A crowd of protesters had gathered outside the factory gates.verbsopen a factoryThe company has just opened a new factory in Swindon.close/shut (down) a factoryThe factory was closed down in 2006.work in a factoryDonna works in a shoe factory.a factory produces/makes somethingThe factory produces an incredible 100 cars per hour.THESAURUSfactory a building or group of buildings in which goods are produced in large quantities, using machinesShe works in a chocolate factory.a clothing factoryplant a large factory where cars, chemicals, or energy is producedLocal residents are protesting about the new nuclear power plant.a car planta nuclear power plantfacility a factory. Facility is often used instead of factory in business EnglishThe new production facility is one of the most up-to-date in the area.works used in the following compounds to describe a factory that produces a particular thing: a steelworks/ironworks/brickworks/a chemical/cement works/a printing worksmill a factory that produces paper, cotton, or clotha paper millThe textile mill has been converted into luxury flats.shipyard a place where ships are built or repairedThe vessel was built in the Kobe shipyard. foundry a factory where metal is made into things using mouldsMandela’s statue was cast here in a local foundry.sweatshop disapproving a small factory where people work hard in bad conditions for very little moneyThe company was fined for selling goods produced in sweatshops.
Examples from the Corpus
factory• Children used to have to work in dreadful conditions, in factories and mines.• In factories and at work, as well as communities and localities?• The lead factory on the outskirts of town is such a wreck that you don't know whether to laugh or cry.• Wharton-Tigar recalls quite well the sardine factory controlled by Reichmann and Hollander.• a shoe factory• Paradoxically, Soviet planners turned the primitive conditions and shortage of supplies at the factories to their advantage, Overy says.• After starting with a handful, the factory now employs 2,800 workers.• In the factories of bioengineering firms and in the chips of neural-net computers, the organic and the machine are merging.• Inputs from these sensor measurements are compared to factory yield and performance.From Longman Business Dictionaryfactoryfac‧to‧ry /ˈfæktəri/ noun (plural factories) [countable]MANUFACTURING a large building or group of buildings where goods are made, using large industrial machinery and usually employing many peopleThe owner wouldn’t comment on the factory’s future.the textile factories of Catalonia → bonded factoryOrigin factory (1500-1600) Medieval Latin factoria, from Latin factor; → FACTOR1 