radial engine

American

noun

Aeronautics.

an internal-combustion engine having the cylinders arranged in radial opposition, found mainly on older aircraft.

radial engine British

noun

an internal-combustion engine having a number of cylinders arranged about a central crankcase

"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

Etymology

Origin of radial engine

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

radial engine

Wright engine, the first 14-cylinder, two-row radial engine in commercial use.

From Time Magazine Archive

Republic makes the only U.S. pursuit ship that uses an air-cooled radial engine.

From Time Magazine Archive

Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Co. makes V-type motors for its own planes; Fairchild Aviation Corp. is almost ready to market its Caminez radial engine.

From Time Magazine Archive

While American engine builders have plugged away for years on the development of the air-cooled radial engine, now close to perfection, German designers have worked at the liquid-cooled, in-line power plant.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is not as interesting as a radial engine.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023