radial engine

American  

noun

Aeronautics.

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

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radial engine British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of radial engine

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

Ryan Brougham�5-seat cabin monoplane; one-piece wing, braced by 2 pairs of tube struts; radial engine at front of a tubular section starting with sloping windshield; fuselage small; rudder roundish; split undercarriage joined to wing struts.

From Time Magazine Archive

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