beam engine

British  

noun

1. an early type of steam engine, in which a pivoted beam is vibrated by a vertical steam cylinder at one end, so that it transmits motion to the workload, such as a pump, at the other end

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Example Sentences

In fifth place, with 10% of the votes, was the Crossness Engine House, and the James Watt rotative beam engine.

From BBC • Oct. 6, 2014

Previously every engine for pumping, the only practical purpose to which steam was yet put, was worked by a beam engine and pair of cylinders.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 2 by Whymper, Frederick

It is a standard American beam engine, with a cylinder 75 inches in diameter and 12 feet stroke of piston, and develops 3,850 horse power.

From The Hudson Three Centuries of History, Romance and Invention by Bruce, Wallace

H. H. A., of N. Y.—The lining up of a beam engine, in a vessel, is a process for which no definite mode of procedure is exclusively applicable.

From Scientific American, Volume XXIV., No. 12, March 18, 1871 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

Under these circumstances the best form, in the vast majority of cases where machinery must be driven, is undoubtedly the horizontal engine, and the worst the beam engine.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 360, November 25, 1882 by Various