civil engineer

American  

noun

• civil engineers
  plural

1. a person who designs public works, as roads, bridges, canals, dams, and harbors, or supervises their construction or maintenance.

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civil engineer British  

noun

1. a person qualified to design, construct, and maintain public works, such as roads, bridges, harbours, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• civil engineering
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• civil engineers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of civil engineer

First recorded in 1785–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

civil engineer

Adapted from her thesis, the story follows a civil engineer in Sacramento named Luther who grows estranged from his family in the wake of an earthquake.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

An immigrant from Colombia, he works as a civil engineer specializing in bridge construction, and was deemed to “perform services of exceptional merit and ability” by the federal government.

From Slate ● Apr. 15, 2026

Many Nepalese say that Balen, a civil engineer, could extend the success he had as mayor of Kathmandu to the rest of the country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026

A former deputy prime minister and home minister, Lamichhane has formed an alliance with former Kathmandu mayor Balendra "Balen" Shah, 35 -- a rapper and civil engineer with a considerable online following.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

So I told her about William Mulholland, who was a self-taught civil engineer.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith