steam engine

noun

an engine worked by steam, typically one in which a sliding piston in a cylinder is moved by the expansive action of the steam generated in a boiler.

Origin of steam engine

First recorded in 1745–55

Other words from steam engine

steam-engine, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use steam engine in a sentence

And the steam engine that powered the reciprocating motion of the sphere was located in a separate room from the patient.
'Hysteria' and the Long, Strange History of the Vibrator | Marlow Stern | April 27, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
My guess is that the death of Paterno will pump that steam engine even more.
Joe Paterno’s Death Shouldn’t Turn Him Into Sandusky Case’s Martyr | Buzz Bissinger | January 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
His letter of a few months before reveals the facility with which he moulded the steam-engine to his requirements.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
I am very glad you have succeeded with your portable steam-engine, and am persuaded they will be more and more adopted.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
The economy of heat in smelting furnaces and in the arated steam-engine were bold means to large results.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick

The drawing shows the simplicity of parts of this highly expansive steam-engine, beginning the up-stroke with steam of 100 lbs.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick
This most simple steam-engine combined in the greatest degree the two elements of expansion and momentum.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2) | Francis Trevithick

British Dictionary definitions for steam-engine

steam-engine

noun

an engine that uses the thermal energy of steam to produce mechanical work, esp one in which steam from a boiler is expanded in a cylinder to drive a reciprocating piston

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

Scientific definitions for steam engine

steam engine

An engine in which the energy of hot steam is converted into mechanical power, especially an engine in which the force of expanding steam is used to drive one or more pistons. The source of the steam is typically external to the part of the machine that converts the steam energy into mechanical energy. Compare internal-combustion engine.

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