engine

[en-juhn]

noun

1. a machine for converting thermal energy into mechanical energy or power to produce force and motion.

2. a railroad locomotive.

3. a fire engine.

4. Computers.,  a piece or collection of software that drives a later process (used in combination, as in ).

5. any mechanical contrivance.

6. a machine or instrument used in warfare, as a battering ram, catapult, or piece of artillery.

7. a means by which something is achieved, accomplished, or furthered.

   Trade is an engine of growth that creates jobs, reduces poverty, and increases economic opportunity.

8. Obsolete.,  an instrument of torture, especially the rack.

engine

/ ˈɛndʒɪn /

noun

1. any machine designed to convert energy, esp heat energy, into mechanical work

   a steam engine

   a petrol engine

2. 1. a railway locomotive

   2. ( as modifier )

      the engine cab

3. military any of various pieces of equipment formerly used in warfare, such as a battering ram or gun

4. obsolete,  any instrument or device

   engines of torture

engine

1. A machine that turns energy into mechanical force or motion, especially one that gets its energy from a source of heat, such as the burning of a fuel. The efficiency of an engine is the ratio between the kinetic energy produced by the machine and the energy needed to produce it.

2. See more at internal-combustion engine steam engine See also motor

Other Word Forms

• engineless adjective
• multiengine noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of engine¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English engin, from Anglo-French, Old French engign, enging, from Latin ingenium “nature, innate quality, mental power, clever invention,” equivalent to in- “in” + -genium (equivalent to gen- “begetting” + -ium noun suffix); in- ², kin, -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of engine¹

C13: from Old French engin, from Latin ingenium nature, talent, ingenious contrivance, from _in- ² + -genium, related to gignere to beget, produce

Example Sentences

But with consumers continuing to spend, in the aggregate, and uncertainty around trade policy starting to fade, there is more optimism that the U.S. economic engine will keep powering ahead.

Read more on Barron's

Still, the analysts said search makes up most of Google’s business, and the company isn’t quite in the clear from mounting competition with AI-powered search engines, regardless of what management shares during its earnings report.

Read more on MarketWatch

Expressions of fake awe about motorcycle gangs that pass by displaying Confederate flags and other racist symbols of the Old South and revving their engines for attention.

Read more on Salon

It would then run its engine at below normal power and performance levels in order to record lower readings of nitrogen oxides.

Read more on BBC

A prolonged shutdown likely would hit consumer spending, the engine of the U.S. economy, said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead U.S. economist for Oxford Economics.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appliance 
• diesel 
• generator 
• instrument 
• motor 
• power plant 
• tool 
• transformer 
• turbine 
• weapon