1. a factory or industrial facility where iron is smelted, processed, or manufactured into products
Usage: often used in plural form but can be singular or plural in meaning

Examples

• The old ironworks employed hundreds of workers during the industrial revolution.
• They built a new ironworks on the outskirts of town.
• The ironworks produced everything from nails to railroad tracks.
• Smoke billowed from the chimneys of the ironworks.
• The abandoned ironworks has become a historical landmark.
• Workers at the ironworks began their shifts before dawn.