internal-combustion engine

American  

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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internal-combustion engine British  

noun

1. a heat engine in which heat is supplied by burning the fuel in the working fluid (usually air)

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internal-combustion engine Scientific  

/ 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.

2. Compare steam engine

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internal-combustion engine Cultural  

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of internal-combustion engine

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

The company now says it will buy more internal-combustion engine vehicles, citing weaker demand and higher operating costs for E.V.s.

From New York Times • Jan. 12, 2024

The cheapest EVs like the Leaf now sell for under $30,000, although small internal-combustion engine cars are cheaper, at about $21,000 for the Nissan Sentra in the U.S.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 2023

That would make it impossible to sell internal-combustion engine cars.

From Reuters • Jun. 29, 2022

Some automakers have added artificial sounds to account for the absence of a growling internal-combustion engine — but Maserati said it won’t go that same route.

From The Verge • Mar. 17, 2022

During the last decade of the nineteenth century a number of American engineers and mechanics were working diligently to develop a practical self-propelled vehicle employing an internal-combustion engine as the motive force.

From The 1893 Duryea Automobile In the Museum of History and Technology by Berkebile, Donald H.