atmospheric engine

American  

noun

1. an early form of single-acting engine in which the power stroke is provided by atmospheric pressure acting upon a piston in an exhausted cylinder.

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Etymology

Origin of atmospheric engine

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

In 1864 Otto's atmospheric engine was invented, in which a heavily-loaded piston was forced upward by an explosion of gas and air drawn in at atmospheric pressure.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 508, September 26, 1885 by Various

As we have seen, it was an atmospheric engine, in no sense a steam engine.

From James Watt by Carnegie, Andrew

Newcomen’s atmospheric engine was first made use of to work the pumps; and it continued to be so employed long after the more powerful and economical condensing engine of Watt had been invented. 

From Lives of the Engineers The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson by Smiles, Samuel

Some crude engines were made in Watt's time, the best being that of Thomas Newcomen, called an atmospheric engine, and used in raising water from coal-mines.

From Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Bolton, Sarah K.

Properly speaking, Newcomen's engine was not a steam, but an atmospheric engine; for though steam was employed, it formed no essential feature of the contrivance, and might have been replaced by an air-pump.

From Triumphs of Invention and Discovery in Art and Science by Fyfe, J. Hamilton