lathe /leɪð/noun 4verb 3forms 3 noun4 •A machine tool used to shape a piece of material, or workpiece, by rotating the workpiece against a cutting tool.He shaped the bedpost by turning it on a lathe.The accidental amputation was due to the guard not being on the lathe. •The movable swing frame of a loom, carrying the reed for separating the warp threads and beating up the weft. •(no longer used) A granary; a barn. •(no longer used) An administrative division of the county of Kent, in England, from the Anglo-Saxon period until it fell entirely out of use in the early twentieth century. verb3 •To shape with a lathe. •To produce a three-dimensional model by rotating a set of points around a fixed axis. •(dialect, UK) To invite; bid; ask. formslathed · lathing · lathes
