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combustion chamber

American  

noun

Machinery.
  1. a chamber, as in an engine or boiler, where combustion occurs.


combustion chamber British  

noun

  1. an enclosed space in which combustion takes place, such as the space above the piston in the cylinder head of an internal-combustion engine or the chambers in a gas turbine or rocket engine in which fuel and oxidant burn

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

combustion chamber Scientific  
  1. An enclosure in which combustion, especially of a fuel or propellant, is initiated and controlled.

  2. See also internal-combustion engine


Etymology

Origin of combustion chamber

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Connecting the combustion chamber to a turbine and converting its intense combustion into electricity created an additional engineering challenge.

From Science Daily Aug. 4, 2026

The piston’s down position allows exhaust to escape and the combustion chamber to refill with fuel and air.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 24, 2026

“Interstellar Technologies Inc. recently performed a combustion chamber static fire test at Japan’s Hokkaido Spaceport as part of the development of the Cosmos engine for its Zero rocket,” the report said.

From Washington Times Dec. 13, 2023

“It’s a combustion chamber of trauma — that’s what Memphis is,” said Mr. Franklin, 36.

From New York Times Feb. 3, 2023

I learned on coming up that he was trying to tell me not to approach the combustion chamber adjoining the checkerwork.

From Steel The Diary of a Furnace Worker by Walker, Charles Rumford

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