sewing machine

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A machine for sewing, often having additional attachments for special stitching.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A machine for stitching fabrics, operated by foot or other power. The sewing-machine is the outgrowth of a very great number of experiments and inventions made in France, England, and the United States, and first culminating practically in the machine invented by Elias Howe. It was developed through the simple type of machine using a needle which passes through the fabric—a type which survives in the Bonnaz or embroidery machine. Then followed the chain-stitch machine and the machines making an inter woven stitch, and lastly came the lock-stitch machines, which are the most approved type at the pres ent day. The various kinds of sewing-machines are all essentially-alike, and have been adapted, by the aid of numerous mechanical attachments and devices, to perform almost every kind of sewing that can be done by hand. In figs. 1 and 2 (Singer sewing-machine) a is the frame and cloth-plate or bed-plate; b, arm; c, treadle; e, pitman; d, main driving-wheel; f, band; g, small driving-wheel attached to shaft h; i, take-up cam with set-screw; j, take-up lever with roller and stud; k, presser-bar carrying presser-foot; l, needle-bar; m, spool-pin; n, shuttle-pitman taking motion from crank o; p, shuttle bell-crank; q, shuttle carrier and shuttle; r, thread-guide; s, tension-disk; t, drawers. In fig. 3 a is the body of shuttle for the same machine; b, the tension-spring; c, the bobbin. In figs. 4 and 5 (Wheeler and Wilson machine) a is the frame; b, shaft-crank which rocks the hook-shaft e, receiving its motion from the double crank on the upper shaft e', in the arm g through the shaft-connection c; d, band-wheel turned by a band (not shown) from a wheel on a treadle-shaft below the table; f, feed-cam; h, feed-bar; i, bobbin-case; j, rotating hook which is attached to e and oscillates with it; k, bobbin-holder; l, presser; m, presser-spring; n, needle-bar link; o, needle-bar; p, take-up lever; q, take-up cam; r, spool-holder; s, thread-leader; t, face-plate covering parts l to p inclusive (fig. 4); v, presser thumb-screw; w, thread-check; x, tension-nut by which tension is regulated; y, tension-pulley around which the thread is wound, and which is caused to turn less or more easily by the nut x; z, thread-guide and -controller; z″, presser-foot. In fig.6 (same machine) a is the bobbin-case; c, bobbin; b, thread wound on bobbin; d, projection from bobbin-case which keeps it from turning; e, thread leading out; and in fig.7 a is the bobbin-holder, partly opened to show hook b, and bobbin-case c; d, feed-points; c, presser-foot. In fig.8 (Willcox and Gibbs machine) a is the frame, which in use is fastened to the stand and which supports all the working parts except the treadle, main driving-wheel and its crank-shaft (not shown in the cut); b, shaft of small driving-wheel c, which is driven by the belt d from the main driving-wheel; e, stitch-regulator, which through the link i, regulates the reciprocating motion of the feed-bar h and attached feed-surface j, and hence also the length of the stitches, when it is turned into different positions numbered on its perimeter, which show through a slot in the cloth-plate k; f, rocker carrying at its upper extremity the looper g; l, vertically reciprocating needle-bar; n, needle-bar nut which champs the needle in the needle-bar, both parts being moved together by the rock-lever p, pivoted by the lever-stud z′ and having its shorter end connected with the crank on shaft b by the connecting-rod z″; m, presser-foot attached to the vertically movable presser-bar q, which is raised by the lifter r; o, needle-bar screw; s, take-up, through which and through the pull-off u (a hole in the side of the lever p) the thread passes from a spool on the spool-pin holder w when the machine is working; v, spool-pin; x, automatic tension, under the cap of which the thread is passed on its way from the spool to the pull-off; y, tension-rod; t, embroidery-spring, used only in embroidering, in which work the thread is also passed through its loop; z, ball-joint connecting the rod z″ with the lever p; z‴, cap. See also cuts under presser-foot.
2. n. In bookbinding, a machine used for sewing together the sections of a book.
3. n. A small sewing machine operated by hand.
4. n. In shoe manufacturing, a machine for sewing leather, built upon the general plan of the machine for sewing fabrics. It appears in a great variety of forms and under many different names, as fair-stitch machine, counter-stitcher, saddle-seam machine, wax-thread machine, out-sole stitcher, etc. The illustration shows a typical sole-sewing machine of the McKay type.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any mechanical or electromechanical device used to stitch cloth or other material; normally uses two threads to form lock stitches

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. a machine for sewing or stitching.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a textile machine used as a home appliance for sewing