trunk engine
Americannoun
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an engine having a trunk piston or pistons.
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a double-acting steam engine having a connecting rod passing through a trunk to the piston.
Etymology
Origin of trunk engine
First recorded in 1860–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Q.--What is the kind of direct acting screw engine employed by Messrs. Penn. A.--It is a horizontal trunk engine.
From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by Bourne, John, C.E.
He had invented the trunk engine, and Murdoch had devised the oscillating engine and the ordinary slide-valve, and had made a model locomotive-engine, while Hornblower had introduced the compound engine.
From A History of the Growth of the Steam-Engine by Thurston, Robert H.
Q.--Is the trunk engine inferior to the oscillating?
From A Catechism of the Steam Engine by Bourne, John, C.E.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
