heat engine

American  

noun

Thermodynamics.

1. a mechanical device designed to transform part of the heat entering it into work.

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heat engine British  

noun

1. an engine that converts heat energy into mechanical energy

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Etymology

Origin of heat engine

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

heat engine

The researchers have now created the world's first superconducting quantum heat engine.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

A conventional heat engine normally relies on separate hot and cold environments.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

“You can think of a hurricane as a heat engine where the ocean is the fuel … so giving it warmer water is basically like higher-octane fuel,” Hazelton said.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 4, 2023

Figure 15.8 Schematic representation of a heat engine, governed, of course, by the first law of thermodynamics.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

These were the two great improvements which converted the first real steam engine into an economical form of heat engine and essentially finished the work so grandly begun by Newcomen and Calley.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 803, May 23, 1891 by Various