engine
a machine for converting thermal energy into mechanical energy or power to produce force and motion.
a railroad locomotive.
a fire engine.
Computers. a piece or collection of software that drives a later process (used in combination, as in game engine; software engine).: See also search engine.
any mechanical contrivance.
a machine or instrument used in warfare, as a battering ram, catapult, or piece of artillery.
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.
Obsolete. an instrument of torture, especially the rack.
Origin of engine
1Other words from engine
- en·gine·less, adjective
- mul·ti·en·gine, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use engine in a sentence
At the same time, the heaviest parts—the main fuselage, the engines and wings—sink to the bottom.
But the display was notable for the eruptions of smoke from the engines, most likely Russian RD-93s.
How China Will Track—and Kill—America’s Newest Stealth Jets | Bill Sweetman | December 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut they are being built with new, lighter materials and powered with far more efficient engines.
Flying Coach Is the New Hell: How Airlines Engineer You Out of Room | Clive Irving | November 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFumes filled the arena, engines revved, and the beastly vehicles made their way out on to the spotlight.
The Moms of Monster Jam Drive Trucks, Buck Macho Culture | Eliza Krigman | November 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Chinook vibrated with deeper and deeper groans until its twin engines managed to heave up our dead weight.
But this time, with all his cunning and perspiration, he could not induce another throb in the tired engines.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeThe king was struck with horror at the description I had given him of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made.
Gulliver's Travels | Jonathan SwiftTwo huge steam engines had snorted and puffed for three whole years.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsWar turns them from making the glittering superfluities of peace to making its grim engines of destruction.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockIn comparison with the engines now in use, these Americans were very small ones.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
British Dictionary definitions for engine
/ (ˈɛndʒɪn) /
any machine designed to convert energy, esp heat energy, into mechanical work: a 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 device: engines of torture
Origin of engine
1Collins 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
[ 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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