factory

Pluralfactories

1. 1
   building (goods)nouncountable

   A building or set of premises where goods are manufactured, usually with machinery and a workforce.

   The new factory employs over two thousand workers across three shifts.

   Pollution from the factories along the river worried local residents.

   UsageThe product usually comes first: a car factory, a toy factory. People work in or at a factory.

   Similarplant, works, mill, facility

2. 2
   original partsadjectivecolloquial

   Being in the original condition supplied by the manufacturer; unmodified and stock.

   Collectors pay more when the paint is factory rather than a respray.

   The dealer confirmed the exhaust system was factory and had never been replaced.

   UsageUsed before a noun or after a linking verb: factory paint; the paint is factory; that part is not factory.

   Similaroriginal, stock, unmodified, standard

   Oppositemodified, custom

   Note

   The adjective can follow a verb, as in "That's not factory," or precede a noun, as in "factory paint." It is not comparable. Its near-synonyms are original and stock. In restoration and resale talk, it often distinguishes original equipment or finishes from later modifications.

3. 3
   device resetnoununcountablebefore a noun

   The original condition of an electronic device, as it was when it left the manufacturer.

   Restoring the console to factory cleared all of his saved game data.

   Technicians returned the router to factory before reselling it.

   UsageMostly before another noun: factory settings, factory defaults, a factory reset. Back to factory is a casual shortening.

   Similardefault

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A large-scale operation that raises livestock intensively by industrial methods.

   The documentary went inside a poultry factory where thousands of birds were packed into sheds and never saw daylight.

   Campaigners want to ban the crowded cages common in animal factories.

   UsageOften used with the animal name first: a chicken factory, a pig factory. It can convey criticism of industrial farming.

5. 5
   turns out lotsnouncountable

   Something that produces a steady or large supply of a particular thing, as a manufacturing plant does.

   The bone marrow acts as a factory for red blood cells.

   Critics called the studio a hit factory that churned out near-identical films.

   UsageThe product usually comes first (a hit factory, a star factory), or follows for (a factory for something).

   Similarmachine, generator

   Note

   Sam Riley calls radio "a star factory for journalists." The comparison often carries a judgment as well as an image, suggesting output that is steady, plentiful and perhaps a little uniform.

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