locomotive

[loh-kuh-moh-tiv]

noun

1. a self-propelled, vehicular engine, powered by steam, a diesel, or electricity, for pulling or, sometimes, pushing a train or individual railroad cars.

2. an organized group cheer, usually led by a cheerleader, as at a football or basketball game, that begins slowly and progressively increases in speed in such a way as to suggest a steam locomotive.

3. Archaic.,  any self-propelled vehicle.

adjective

1. of or relating to locomotives.

2. of, relating to, or aiding in locomotion or movement from place to place.

   the locomotive powers of most animals.

3. moving or traveling by means of its own mechanism or powers.

4. serving to produce such movement; adapted for or used in locomotion.

   locomotive organs.

5. having the power of locomotion.

   an animal that is locomotive at birth.

locomotive

/ ˌləʊkəˈməʊtɪv /

noun

1. 1. Also called: locomotive engine. a self-propelled engine driven by steam, electricity, or diesel power and used for drawing trains along railway tracks

   2. ( as modifier )

      a locomotive shed

      a locomotive works

adjective

1. of or relating to locomotion

2. moving or able to move, as by self-propulsion

Other Word Forms

• locomotively adverb
• locomotiveness noun
• locomotivity noun
• unlocomotive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of locomotive¹

1605–15; < Latin locō, ablative of locus place + motive (adj.); compare Medieval Latin in locō movērī to change position

Example Sentences

Farther off, whales blew jets of water from their blowholes like smoke from the smokestack of a Bloomer steam locomotive.

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The Incorrigible children hugged the fortune-teller and danced in and out of her countless billowing scarves as they caught the puffs of steam from the awakening locomotive like so many wind-filled sails.

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But it was the steam locomotive itself that had overheated the little girl’s imagination.

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In order for the Erebus to make its way through the thickest ice fields, the British Admiralty equipped the vessel with a fifteen-ton, twenty-five horsepower railroad locomotive engine.

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The tentative agreement covers 300 locomotive engineers on the Soo Line property operating trains in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• engine