motor

[moh-ter]

noun

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.

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)

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

   They motored up the coast.

verb (used with object)

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

   He motored his son to school.

motor

/ 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

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

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

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

2. Compare sensory

Other Word Forms

• multimotor noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of motor¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of motor¹

C16: from Latin mōtor a mover, from movēre to move

Example Sentences

The original ship was modified to incorporate the tall spinning towers, which were powered by motors, as a way of saving money on fuel costs.

Read more on BBC

American auto companies have long relied on China for the magnets, which are essential for making everything from electric motors to headlights and windshield wipers.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I can be riding toward a turn and see in front of me a bunch of riders all in a single-file line, motoring into the corner.

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If the tech industry were a bakery, dysprosium would be like baking powder: It is used in small quantities but essential for enabling electric-car motors, wind turbines, military systems and computer-chip machinery.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

On tour with Black Sabbath in the 1970s, he trekked around the U.S. in a GMC motor home.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cylinder 
• generator 
• transformer 
• turbine