engineer

[ en-juh-neer ]

See synonyms for: engineer engineered engineering on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person trained and skilled in the design, construction, and use of engines or machines, or in any of various branches of engineering: a mechanical engineer; a civil engineer.
a person who operates or is in charge of an engine.

Also called locomotive engineer .Railroads. a person who operates or is in charge of a locomotive.
a member of an army, navy, or air force specially trained in engineering work.
Digital Technology. a person skilled in the design and programming of computer systems: a software engineer;a web engineer.
a skillful manager: a political engineer.

verb (used with object)

to plan, construct, or manage as an engineer: He's engineered several big industrial projects.
to design or create using the techniques or methods of engineering: The motor has been engineered to run noiselessly.

to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance: He certainly engineered the election campaign beautifully.

Origin of engineer

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; engine + -eer; replacing Middle English engin(e)our, from Anglo-French engineor, Old French engigneor, from Medieval Latin ingeniātor, from ingeniā(re) “to design, devise” (derivative of ingenium “nature, innate quality, mental power, clever invention”; see engine) + Latin -tor -tor

Other words from engineer

sub·en·gi·neer, noun
un·en·gi·neered, adjective
well-en·gi·neered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use engineer in a sentence

Some time ago, in an Apple campus building, a group of engineers got together.
“We are giddy”—interviewing Apple about its Mac silicon revolution | Samuel Axon | November 20, 2020 | Ars Technica
Comice, a Tijuana-based conglomerate of engineers, contractors and business experts, also proposed a water-recycling project to the International Boundary and Water Commission.
Two Companies See a Golden Opportunity in the Tijuana River’s Brown Waters | MacKenzie Elmer | November 20, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
Lacking crucial documents from Boeing has made it hard for the families’ lawyers to proceed with depositions of key company engineers, since they don’t have the information they need to formulate questions.
The Boeing 737 MAX Is Cleared to Fly. Families of People Who Died on the Planes Wait for Answers. | by Alec MacGillis | November 19, 2020 | ProPublica
It also would provide the FAA with $30 million in coming years to recruit engineers and other experts to conduct oversight.
FAA lifts ban on Boeing 737 Max after crashes in 2018 and 2019 grounded the jet | Michael Laris, Lori Aratani, Ian Duncan | November 19, 2020 | Washington Post
After college, he did that by working as a software engineer, using computer programming to solve problems for people.
A 28-year-old ‘nerd’ in Baltimore invented a new type of mask, and tapped into the strangeness of this 2020 holiday season | Theresa Vargas | November 18, 2020 | Washington Post

The virus, dubbed Stuxnet, would eventually be identified by journalists and security experts as a U.S.-engineered attack.
How Obama Endangered Us All With Stuxnet | Kim Zetter | November 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Clay engineered the morally indefensible Missouri Compromise.
Election Day Is Scarier Than Halloween | P. J. O’Rourke | November 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Andy Johns engineered the sessions and we recorded it at Olympic Studios.
When Gary Wright Met George Harrison: Dream Weaver, John and Yoko, and More | Gary Wright | September 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
And so one recent evening I pulled into Athens, Ga., the 10th stop on my 15-city, self-engineered, all-drive, no-fly book tour.
Dumps and Death Threats, Hecklers and Vindication: True Tales from Today’s DIY Book Tour | Bill Morris | August 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
In this way, Jenna Hamilton is a reimagining of the sensitive outsider, engineered for the digital era.
In Praise of ‘Awkward’: OMFG MTV, Like, Really Gets High School | Amy Zimmerman | June 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Bidault was one of the syndicate that engineered the bankruptcy of Birotteau in 1819.
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z | Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
Engineered by Billoughby, the railroad was simply playing the part of the good big brother to these new middlemen.
The Wreckers | Francis Lynde
On June 20 a carefully engineered insurrection exposed the king and queen to cruel insults and imminent danger.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William Hunt
Those provocative shots from German rifles have surely been the most profitably engineered basenesses in the whole war.
Raemaekers' Cartoons | Louis Raemaekers
Each waggon was drawn by a full span of sixteen oxen, which were engineered by a leader and driver to the span, both natives.
The Luck of Gerard Ridgeley | Bertram Mitford

British Dictionary definitions for engineer

engineer

/ (ˌɛndʒɪˈnɪə) /

noun

a person trained in any branch of the profession of engineering
the originator or manager of a situation, system, etc

a mechanic; person who repairs or services machines
US and Canadian the driver of a railway locomotive
an officer responsible for a ship's engines
Informal name: sapper a member of the armed forces, esp the army, trained in engineering and construction work

verb(tr)

to originate, cause, or plan in a clever or devious manner: he engineered the minister's downfall
to design, plan, or construct as a professional engineer

Origin of engineer

C14: enginer, from Old French engigneor, from engignier to contrive, ultimately from Latin ingenium skill, talent; see engine

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

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