Industrial describes anything related to industry: the large-scale production of goods in factories using machines, workers, and organized systems.

When historians talk about the Industrial Revolution, they mean the period starting in the 1700s when people figured out how to make things in huge quantities using powered machinery instead of crafting items one at a time by hand. Before this transformation, a blacksmith might spend days forging a single tool. After industrialization, factories could produce thousands of tools per day using steam-powered machines and assembly lines.

Today, an industrial area of a city is where you'll find warehouses, factories, and manufacturing plants rather than homes or shops. Industrial equipment means heavy-duty machinery built for factory work, not household use. Industrial-strength cleaners are much more powerful than what you'd use at home.

The word can also describe a harsh, mechanical quality. Industrial music has a raw, machine-like sound. An industrial accident is one that happens in a factory or on a construction site.

When something becomes industrialized, it shifts from small-scale, handmade production to large-scale factory production. Countries that industrialize their economies often become wealthier and more powerful, though they face new challenges like pollution and crowded cities. The industrial age transformed how humans live and work, creating the modern world of mass-produced cars, clothing, electronics, and nearly everything else people use daily.