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internal-combustion engine

noun
  1. an engine of one or more working cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place within the cylinders.
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Origin of internal-combustion engine

First recorded in 1880–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for internal-combustion engine

Historical Examples

  • They export to some of these internal-combustion-engine sectors, like Europo-American.

    Temple Trouble

    Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for internal-combustion engine

internal-combustion engine

noun
  1. a heat engine in which heat is supplied by burning the fuel in the working fluid (usually air)
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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
internal-combustion engine in Science

internal-combustion engine

[ĭn-tûr′nəl-kəm-bŭs′chən]
  1. An engine whose fuel is burned inside the engine itself rather than in an outside furnace or burner. Gasoline and diesel engines are internal-combustion engines, as are gas turbine engines such as turbojets. Compare steam engine.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
internal-combustion engine in Culture

internal-combustion engine

Any engine powered by burning fuel inside it (for example, a standard automobile engine). Internal-combustion engines normally burn fossil fuels and therefore are a major source of air pollution. (See smog.)

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.