To meet the high requirements of precision machining, electrical machines with high acceleration and high precision have become a dedicated field of research. A rotary-linear voice coil motor (VCM) is proposed here, which features the advantage of a high acceleration and a two-degree-of-freedom motion. The structure and operating principle of the rotary-linear VCM is first introduced based on the equivalent magnetic circuit method; the method to eliminate the axial clearance is employed to ensure high precision. Then, the force characteristics of this motor are calculated and analyzed by means of the finite-element method. The mover in the VCM has a lightweight in order to achieve high acceleration, and a stress analysis of the mover brackets is thus conducted. A prototype of the VCM was manufactured and tested to validate its theoretical features. The main parameters of the prototype were obtained, the motor acceleration reaching 140.4 m/ $\text{s}^{{ {2}}}$ , which is enough to meet the requirement of multidimensional precision machining systems. This paper provides a theoretical reference and experimental data for high acceleration rotary-linear VCM in multidimensional precision machining systems.