Wankel engine

noun

an internal-combustion rotary engine that utilizes a triangular rotor that revolves in a chamber (rather than a conventional piston that moves up and down in a cylinder): it has fewer moving parts and is generally smaller and lighter for a given horsepower.

Origin of Wankel engine

named after F. Wankel

Also called Wan·kel.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for wankel engine

Wankel engine

noun

a type of four-stroke internal-combustion engine without reciprocating parts. It consists of one or more approximately elliptical combustion chambers within which a curved triangular-shaped piston rotates, by the explosion of compressed gas, dividing the combustion chamber into three gastight sections

Word Origin for Wankel engine

C20: named after Felix Wankel (1902–88), German engineer who invented it

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