lathe
/leɪð
/noun
A machine for shaping wood, metal, or other material by means of a rotating drive which turns the piece being worked on against changeable cutting tools.I take the bulk away with a wood lathe tool, take it down and smooth it out with clay tools, and buff it with a rubber pad....
- High Schools of the day offered some pretty good metal working programs in classrooms outfitted with lathes, milling machines and shapers.
- Visitors were also shown vases that were cast from the same material and turned on a wood lathe.
verb [with object]
Shape with a lathe: I have lathed metal in a machine shop...
- The mandapa remained a square, though it was now distinguished by circular columns, the shafts of which had been lathed and thus acquired a number of parallel knife-edges.
- The place wasn't wealthy: the plates were rough lathed wood, grease from meals soaked into it.
Origin
Middle English: probably from Old Danish lad 'structure, frame', perhaps from Old Norse hlath 'pile, heap', related to hlatha (see lade1).