traction engine

American  

noun

1. a locomotive operating on surfaces other than tracks and pulling heavy loads, as fallen logs.

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traction engine British  

noun

1. a steam-powered locomotive used, esp formerly, for drawing heavy loads along roads or over rough ground. It usually has two large rear wheels and a rope drum for haulage purposes

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Etymology

Origin of traction engine

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

traction engine

A bus driver who was seriously injured in an accident when a traction engine fell off a low-loader into his cabin has told how he thought he "would die".

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2015

"A low-loader had come past, but the traction engine that was on the back had fallen off and smashed into the bus - literally just made a massive, massive mess."

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2015

Built like a traction engine, with forearms like Popeye, Anderson is the kind of big-hitting middle-order batsmen who can make mincemeat of most totals.

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2015

Wilson McNair described these cumbersome and sometimes dangerous machines this way: The thresher was run and pulled by a traction engine.

From Frying Pan Farm by Elizabeth Brown Pryor

Their second vehicle, No. 2, was a four seated brake which was, in fact, a modified traction engine.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 1082, September 26, 1896 by Various