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four-cycle

[fawr-sahy-kuh l, fohr-]
adjective
  1. noting or pertaining to an internal-combustion engine in which a complete cycle in each cylinder requires four strokes, one to draw in air or an air-fuel mixture, one to compress it, one to ignite it and do work, and one to scavenge the cylinder.
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Also four-stroke.
Compare two-cycle.

Origin of four-cycle

First recorded in 1905–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for four-cycle

Historical Examples of four-cycle

  • This is true with either one of two forms of four-cycle motors.

    Aviation Engines

    Victor Wilfred Pag

  • Thus it is plain that the motor is of the four-cycle type and it should not be confounded with two-cycle motors.

  • The average compression pressure of a two- or four-cycle engine of the ordinary type, is from 60 to 70 pounds per square inch.

    The Gasoline Motor

    Harold Whiting Slauson

  • At the top is shown the torque diagram of a single-cylinder motor of the four-cycle type.

    Aviation Engines

    Victor Wilfred Pag

  • It shows clearly all parts of a typical four-cylinder gasoline engine of the four-cycle type.

    Aviation Engines

    Victor Wilfred Pag

British Dictionary definitions for four-cycle

four-cycle

adjective
  1. US and Canadian relating to or designating an internal-combustion engine in which the piston makes four strokes for every explosionEquivalent term (in Britain and certain other countries): four-stroke Compare two-stroke
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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