motor

American  

[moh-ter] / ˈmoʊ tər /

noun

motors plural

1. a comparatively small and powerful engine, especially an internal-combustion engine in an automobile, motorboat, or the like.

2. any self-powered vehicle.

3. a person or thing that imparts motion, especially a contrivance, as a steam engine, that receives and modifies energy from some natural source in order to utilize it in driving machinery.

4. Also called electric motor.  Electricity. a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, as an induction motor.

5. motors, stocks or bonds in automobile companies.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or operated by a motor.

2. of, for, by, or pertaining to motor vehicles.

   motor freight.

3. designed or for automobiles, their drivers, or their passengers.

   The hotel has a motor lobby in its parking garage for picking up and discharging passengers.

4. causing or producing motion.

5. Physiology. conveying an impulse that results or tends to result in motion, as a nerve.

6. Psychology, Physiology. Also of, relating to, or involving muscular movement.

   a motor response; motor images.

verb (used without object)

motors, present (3rd person singular) motored, past participle, past motoring present participle

1. to ride or travel in an automobile; drive.

   They motored up the coast.

verb (used with object)

motors, present (3rd person singular) motored, past participle, past motoring present participle

1. Chiefly British. to drive or transport by car.

   He motored his son to school.

motor British  

/ ˈməʊtə /

noun

1. 1. the engine, esp an internal-combustion engine, of a vehicle

   2. ( as modifier )

      a motor scooter

2. Also called: electric motor.  a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy by means of the forces exerted on a current-carrying coil placed in a magnetic field

3. any device that converts another form of energy into mechanical energy to produce motion

4. an indispensable part or player that moves a process or system along

5. 1. a car or other motor vehicle

   2. as modifier

      motor spares

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adjective

1. producing or causing motion

2. physiol

   1. of or relating to nerves or neurons that carry impulses that cause muscles to contract

   2. of or relating to movement or to muscles that induce movement

verb

1. (intr) to travel by car

2. (tr) to transport by car

3. informal (intr) to move fast; make good progress

4. (tr) to motivate

motor Scientific  

/ mō′tər /

1. A machine that uses energy, such as electric or chemical energy (as from burning a fuel), to produce mechanical motion.

2. See also engine

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1. Involving the muscles or the nerves that are connected to them.

2. Compare sensory

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• multimotor
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• motors
  plural

Participles

• motoring
  present
• motored
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• motor
  simple
• motors
  simple
• have motored
  perfect
• has motored
  perfect
• am motoring
  progressive
• are motoring
  progressive
• is motoring
  progressive
• have been motoring
  perfect progressive
• has been motoring
  perfect progressive

Past

• motored
  simple
• had motored
  perfect
• was motoring
  progressive
• were motoring
  progressive
• had been motoring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will motor
  simple
• will have motored
  perfect
• will be motoring
  progressive
• will have been motoring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of motor

1580–90; < Latin mōtor mover, equivalent to mō- (variant stem of movēre to move ) + -tor -tor

Explanation

A motor runs your car, whizzes the blender and gets your golf cart going: it's simply a machine that converts energy into motion. Coming to us from a Latin word that means "to move," motor is certainly connected to the world of motion. Without the innovation of Ford motors, most of America wouldn't be able to get anywhere today. These days the motor is undergoing some serious revisions, as engineers look for a way to power things with less gasoline and more sunshine.

Example Sentences

These problems develop as misfolded α-synuclein accumulates in motor neurons.

From Science Daily • Jul. 12, 2026

But following a visit to his parents in Spain, his son was left with lesions on his brain which affected his gross and fine motor movement and his speech.

From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026

But as the knock-out rounds got under way, Fayer was cruising off the coast of Tuscany in a motor boat with friends.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 4, 2026

“Boy, don’t you know you gotta be 16-years-old to operate a motor vehicle in the Commonwealth of Kentucky?” he asked.

From Salon • Jul. 3, 2026

He sounded like the little motor that putt-putted us around Lake Jasper in Daddy’s fishing boat.

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

Related Words

• cylinder
• generator
• transformer
• turbine