Meaning & use
industrial hub
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A city or region that is a main center of manufacturing and industry.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'an industrial hub' or 'several industrial hubs'.
Patterns
- an industrial hub for something
- become an industrial hub
- a major industrial hub
The port city grew into an industrial hub for the whole region.
Government money helped turn the area into a major industrial hub.
Detroit was once the country's best-known industrial hub.
nouncountable
A place or organization where a particular industry is concentrated and most active.
Grammar: Often followed by 'of' or 'for' plus the industry or activity: a hub of finance.
Patterns
- a hub of something
- an industrial hub of something
The valley became an industrial hub of semiconductor production.
Analysts see the city as an emerging industrial hub for electric vehicles.
Word forms
| plural | industrial hubs |
|---|
Common combinations
- a major industrial hub
- Shanghai is a major industrial hub in Asia.
- become an industrial hub
- The town became an industrial hub after the railway arrived.
- an industrial hub for the region
- The city serves as an industrial hub for the surrounding region.
- a thriving industrial hub
- By 1900 it was a thriving industrial hub.
- an industrial hub of production
- The province is an industrial hub of steel production.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manufacturing center
- Very close in meaning, but plainer and used more in American English.
- industrial center
- Almost the same; 'hub' suggests a point where activity and transport come together.
- powerhouse
- Stronger and more figurative; it stresses economic strength rather than location.
Word family
- industry noun
- The business of making things in factories.
- industrial adjective
- Relating to industry or manufacturing.
- industrialize verb
- To develop industry in a country or area.
- industrialization noun
- The process of building up industry.
- industrialist noun
- A person who owns or runs large industries.
Commonly confused: industrial hub or industrial estate? industrial hub or hub?
industrial hub vs industrial estate
A British term for an area of factories and warehouses, not a whole city or region.
industrial hub vs hub
On its own, 'hub' can mean an airport or transport center, not necessarily industrial.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'industrial hub' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Industrial hub' means a center of manufacturing, so a city becoming a hub for car manufacturing fits. Option 0 is wrong because a farm is agricultural, not industrial; option 2 confuses the place with a job; option 3 describes a storage building, not an industrial center.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “industrial hub”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.