Jump To:

• steam engine
  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.
• 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

steam engine

American  

noun

• steam engines
  plural

1. 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.

---

steam-engine British  

noun

1. 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

---

steam engine Scientific  

1. 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.

2. Compare internal-combustion engine

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• steam-engine
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• steam engines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of steam engine

First recorded in 1745–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

steam engine steam-engine

James Watt's steam engine is one famous example, but the same basic concept remains central to modern transportation and electricity production, powering cars, ships, planes and many power plants.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

Both the Industrial Revolution and the steam engine that powered it were invented in England.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

The first venture capitalists were wealthy individuals like Brown and Englishman Matthew Boulton—who subsidized James Watt’s steam engine in Great Britain—and scions of wealthy dynasties like the Rockefellers in the U.S.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

The seemingly limitless power of the steam engine helped change that view, making fortunes in mining, metallurgy, brewing, and, especially, textiles.

From Barron's ● Jan. 13, 2026

South, and James Watt’s 1769 invention of his steam engine to solve the problem of pumping water out of British coal mines.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

But trains continued to run by switching from electric power to steam-engine power, which had been readied as a backup.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 16, 2022

When the mine was in use, this shaft contained a pipe and miners employed steam-engine power to pump water out of the tunnels.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 17, 2018

Mr. Wendel is a tenor saxophonist of cool, even tone and steam-engine momentum.

From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2018

Here, that’s all gone, with loads of original digital texture in its place — repetitive steam-engine tones, electronic pops and hisses, watery chimes.

From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2010

There another steam-engine pump lifted the water into huge wood reservoirs, from where it was fed by gravity to households and businesses around the city.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy