A conveyor belt or a conveyor is a continuously-moving strip of rubber or metal which is used in factories for moving objects along so that they can bedealt with as quickly as possible.
The damp bricks went along a conveyor belt into another shed to dry.
2. countable noun
If you describe a situation as a conveyor belt, you dislike it because it produces things or people which are all the same or always deals with things or people in the same way.
[disapproval]
They feel scared and powerless in conveyor-belt hospital wards.
conveyor belt in British English
noun
a flexible endless strip of fabric or linked plates driven by rollers and used to transport objects, esp in a factory
Examples of 'conveyor belt' in a sentence
conveyor belt
The conveyor belt is beginning to look like a gravy train.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It says the crisps are freshly cooked and served straight to diners on a conveyor belt.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
We've got a conveyor belt.
The Sun (2017)
WOMEN in labour are made to feel like cattle on a conveyor belt due to a shortage of midwives, a report warns.
The Sun (2017)
But a ridiculous conveyor belt of matches was always going to take its toll on a player who is clearly lacking the energy, sharpness and goal threat.
The Sun (2016)
It moves because Australia sits on top of a conveyor belt of molten rock that allows it to slip, albeit very slowly.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
They dropped onto a conveyor belt to go to the next room to be gutted.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The people who put their shoes and belts back on before moving away from the conveyor belt.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But the conveyor belt is already inexorable.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
It means going through all of these elements of the conveyor belt to radicalisationand making sure we deal with them.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
You tend to be working for people who manufacture washing machines, and you get on a conveyor belt.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Once the item is scanned and picked, it is sent along the conveyor belt to be packed or gift wrapped.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
There is no conveyor belt.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The conveyor belt kept conveying.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
This conveyor belt of excellence spreads through the side and up into Spain's national team.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
conveyor belt
British English: conveyor belt /kənˈveɪə bɛlt/ NOUN
A conveyor belt or a conveyor is a continuously moving strip which is used in factories to move objects along.
The damp bricks went along a conveyor belt into another room to dry.