lathe

[leyth] /leɪð/
noun
1.
a machine for use in working wood, metal, etc., that holds the material and rotates it about a horizontal axis against a tool that shapes it.
verb (used with object), lathed, lathing.
2.
to cut, shape, or otherwise treat on a lathe.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English: frame, stand, lathe; compare Old Norse hlath stack (see lade), Danish -lad in væverlad weaver's batten, savelad saw bench
Can be confused
lath, lathe.
Examples from the web for lathe
  • The carpenter shop features a hand cranked fly-wheel for lathe operation.
  • They always left the chuck key in the lathe head or the drill press.
  • Model workers were rewarded with free trips-a week in the sun for a lathe operator or a ditch digger.
  • Each pick would appear to have been hand-turned on a tiny lathe, and then cured and tempered.
  • They are relatively tall and stand on bases with sinuous, elegant moldings that look as if they had been turned on a lathe.
  • When they invented the lathe, tables legs became what they were.
  • He started a cutting-tool firm with a borrowed lathe and a loan from a local butcher.
  • Today vocational ed--or career tech, as it's commonly called--more often involves a computer mouse than a lathe.
British Dictionary definitions for lathe

lathe1

/leɪð/
noun
1.
a machine for shaping, boring, facing, or cutting a screw thread in metal, wood, etc, in which the workpiece is turned about a horizontal axis against a fixed tool
verb
2.
(transitive) to shape, bore, or cut a screw thread in or on (a workpiece) on a lathe
Word Origin
perhaps C15 lath a support, of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Danish lad lathe, Old English hlæd heap

lathe2

/leɪð/
noun
1.
(Brit, history) any of the former administrative divisions of Kent
Word Origin
Old English læth district
Word Origin and History for lathe
n.

"machine for turning," early 14c., of uncertain origin, probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish drejelad "turning-lathe," Old Norse hlaða "pile of shavings under a lathe," related to hlaða "to load, lade").