engine
[en-juh n]
- 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.
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Origin of engine
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
generatortoolapplianceinstrumentmotorweapontransformerdieselturbinecylinderapparatusmeanspotmechanismfancontrivanceagentdynamobarrelimplementExamples from the Web for engine
Contemporary Examples
Texas has also started to become an engine of economic growth.
“The fact the engine did not blow up does not mean it is not the cause of the accident,” he told the 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 OwnRobert Silverman
August 31, 2014
But engine technology has not been static in the past decade.
And they always want to get a detailed look at the engines to see if engine failure was involved.
Historical Examples
By this engine, whose springs I am continually oiling, I play them all off.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)Samuel Richardson
But when K., growing uneasy, came out into the yard, the engine had started at last.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
I did not want to start the engine until I had finished everything else.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
These blades are joined at the engine shaft, in a direct line.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Fuel consumption is a prime factor in the production of engine power.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
engine
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for engine
n.
c.1300, "mechanical device," also "skill, craft," from Old French engin "skill, cleverness," also "trick, deceit, stratagem; war machine" (12c.), from Latin ingenium "inborn qualities, talent" (see ingenious). At first meaning a trick or device, or any machine (especially military); sense of "device that converts energy to mechanical power" is 18c., especially of steam engines.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.