four-cycle

[ fawr-sahy-kuh l, fohr- ]

/ ˈfɔrˌsaɪ kəl, ˈfoʊr- /

adjective

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.

Content related to four-cycle

Zoom Through “Spin Class” With These 10 Cycling Terms Cycling no doubt courses throughout our life and culture, but so does the language of the sport and activity. So, strap on your helmets: we're going to spin through some of the zippiest terms in cycling, past and present.

Words nearby four-cycle

four-channel, four-color, four-color problem, four-colour, four-corners, four-cycle, four-deal bridge, four-dimensional, four-eyed, four-eyed fish, four-eyed opossum

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for four-cycle

The two-cycle engine is simpler in construction than the four-cycle, having no valves.
The Story of Great Inventions|Elmer Ellsworth Burns
The greater number of engines used in automobiles to-day are of the kind known as the Otto cycle, or four-cycle, engine.
The Story of Great Inventions|Elmer Ellsworth Burns
As to disadvantages:—In a four-cycle engine there is but one working stroke in four piston traverses.
Inventors at Work|George Iles
It shows clearly all parts of a typical four-cylinder gasoline engine of the four-cycle type.
Aviation Engines|Victor Wilfred Pag

The four-cycle engines have been so far subjected to much more rigid and authoritative tests than those of the two-cycle.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4|Various

British Dictionary definitions for four-cycle

four-cycle

adjective

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

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