Definition of "machinist" []

• One who is skilled in operating machine tools. (noun)
• One who makes, operates, or repairs machines. (noun)
• A warrant officer who assists the engineering officer in the engine room of a naval vessel. (noun)
• Archaic A person in charge of stage machinery. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The workman in the old machine shop was known as a machinist, an apprentice or a helper."
• "The worker in the machine shop of today is no longer known as a machinist, because that term does not cover the present range of positions."
• "The machinist was a widow, and her machine had been bought out of her husband's club and insurance money when he died twenty-one years before."