1. A typesetting machine that casts an entire line of type as a single metal slug.
Usage: trademark (originally); historical printing technology
2. A line of type produced by a linotype machine.
Usage: printing

1. To set or compose type using a linotype machine.
Usage: historical; printing

Examples

• The newspaper's composing room was filled with the clatter of linotype machines.
• Before digital printing, linotype was the standard method for setting newspaper text.
• The operator fed copy into the linotype, which automatically cast each line in metal.
• A single linotype could produce multiple lines of type much faster than hand-setting.
• The invention of the linotype in the 1880s revolutionized the printing industry.