engine

[ en-juh n ]

/ ˈɛn dʒən /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR engine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a railroad locomotive.

a fire engine.

any mechanical contrivance.

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

Obsolete. an instrument of torture, especially the rack.

Words nearby engine

engels, friedrich, engender, enghien, d', engild, engin., engine, engine company, engine driver, engine house, engine pod, engine room

Origin of engine

1250–1300; Middle English engin < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin ingenium nature, innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention, equivalent to in- in-² + -genium, equivalent to gen- begetting (see kin) + -ium -ium

OTHER WORDS FROM engine

en·gine·less, adjectivemul·ti·en·gine, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for engine

Texas has also started to become an engine of economic growth.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“The fact the engine did not blow up does not mean it is not the cause of the accident,” he told the Daily Beast.
Can Richard Branson Bounce Back From His Space Disaster?|Tom Sykes|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Varsity Chiefs are awesome, and the engine for this devastating hardwood machine is point guard Buell Robinson.
Native American Basketball Team in Wyoming Have Hoop Dreams Of Their Own|Robert Silverman|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But engine technology has not been static in the past decade.
Does America’s $400 Billion Stealth Jet Need Another Engine?|Bill Sweetman|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And they always want to get a detailed look at the engines to see if engine failure was involved.
MH17 Is the World’s First Open-Source Air Crash Investigation|Clive Irving|July 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The engine having proved itself indispensable, the demand for it was becoming great and pressing from various countries.
James Watt|Andrew Carnegie
Steering was done from the cockpit, under shelter of an awning, but the engine control was below.
The Adventure Club Afloat|Ralph Henry Barbour
The engine was just under and at the front of the main plane, driving a single propeller.
The Boy's Book of New Inventions|Harry E. Maule
If you should explain that engine through to me two or three times more, I'll understand it.
The Forbidden Trail|Honor Willsie
The engine employed in the experiments weighed, with its tender, about fifty tons.
The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer|Isambard Brunel

British Dictionary definitions for engine

engine

/ (ˈɛndʒɪn) /

noun

any machine designed to convert energy, esp heat energy, into mechanical worka steam engine; a petrol engine

a railway locomotive
(as modifier)the engine cab

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

obsolete any instrument or deviceengines of torture

Word Origin for engine

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

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

Scientific definitions for engine

engine

[ ĕn′jĭn ]

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

engine

noun

Words related to engine

Words nearby engine

Origin of engine

OTHER WORDS FROM engine

Examples from the Web for engine

British Dictionary definitions for engine

noun

Word Origin for engine

Scientific definitions for engine