ENGINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does engine mean? 

• ENGINE (noun)
  The noun ENGINE has 4 senses:

1. motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work

2. something used to achieve a purpose

3. a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks

4. an instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc.

  Familiarity information: ENGINE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENGINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("engine" is a kind of...):

motor (machine that converts other forms of energy into mechanical energy and so imparts motion)

Meronyms (parts of "engine"):

camshaft (an engine shaft with cams attached to it)

gear; gearing; geartrain; power train; train (wheelwork consisting of a connected set of rotating gears by which force is transmitted or motion or torque is changed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "engine"):

automobile engine (the engine that propels an automobile)

auxiliary engine; donkey engine ((nautical) a small engine (as one used on board ships to operate a windlass))

generator (engine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by electromagnetic induction)

heat engine (any engine that makes use of heat to do work)

reaction-propulsion engine; reaction engine (a jet or rocket engine based on a form of aerodynamic propulsion in which the vehicle emits a high-speed stream)

aircraft engine (the engine that powers and aircraft)

Derivation:

engineer (the operator of a railway locomotive)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something used to achieve a purpose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

an engine of change

Hypernyms ("engine" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

engine; locomotive; locomotive engine; railway locomotive

Hypernyms ("engine" is a kind of...):

self-propelled vehicle (a wheeled vehicle that carries in itself a means of propulsion)

Meronyms (parts of "engine"):

footplate (the platform in the cab of a locomotive on which the engineer stands to operate the controls)

buffer; cowcatcher; fender; pilot (an inclined metal frame at the front of a locomotive to clear the track)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "engine"):

dinkey; dinky (a small locomotive)

traction engine (steam-powered locomotive for drawing heavy loads along surfaces other than tracks)

tank engine; tank locomotive (a locomotive that carries its own fuel and water; no tender is needed)

donkey engine; switch engine (a locomotive for switching rolling stock in a railroad yard)

steam locomotive (a locomotive powered by a steam engine)

shunter (a small locomotive used to move cars around but not to make trips)

pilot engine (a locomotive that precedes a train to check the track)

iron horse ((c. 1840) an early term for a locomotive)

electric locomotive (a locomotive that is powered by an electric motor)

diesel locomotive (a locomotive driven by a diesel engine)

choo-choo (a child's word for locomotive)

Holonyms ("engine" is a member of...):

railroad train; train (public transport provided by a line of railway cars coupled together and drawn by a locomotive)

Derivation:

engineer (the operator of a railway locomotive)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

medieval engines of war

Hypernyms ("engine" is a kind of...):

instrument (a device that requires skill for proper use)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "engine"):

battering ram (a ram used to break down doors of fortified buildings)

arbalest; arbalist; ballista; bricole; catapult; mangonel; onager; trebuchet; trebucket (an engine that provided medieval artillery used during sieges; a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles)

 Context examples 

Because the nucleus is so small, these jets act like rocket engines, spinning up the comet’s rotation.

(Hubble Takes Close-up Look at Disintegrating Comet, NASA)

The shout I heard was upon the arrival of this engine, which, it seems, set out in four hours after my landing.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A private scoring engine developed by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute that can match tandem mass spectra with peptide sequences.

(Comet Scoring Engine, NCI Thesaurus)

To demonstrate this versatility, the researchers constructed a simple "Curie engine".

(New Materials Developed by Scientists Able to Move in Response to Light, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A minute later a carriage and engine could be seen flying along the open curve which leads to the station.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Juno's visible-light camera was turned on six days after Juno fired its main engine and placed itself into orbit around the largest planetary inhabitant of our solar system.

(Juno Spacecraft Sends First In-orbit View, NASA)

The fire broke out at dead of night, and before the engines arrived from Millcote, the building was one mass of flame.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Both of these black holes are the central engines of what astronomers call "active galactic nuclei," a class of extremely bright objects that includes quasars and blazars.

(Black Holes Hide in Our Cosmic Backyard, NASA)

After an almost five-year journey to the solar system's largest planet, NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter's orbit during a 35-minute engine burn.

(Juno Spacecraft in Orbit Around Mighty Jupiter, NASA)

PAR – normally associated with the repair of DNA inside the cell – can in fact exist outside the cell and is the engine of bone production.

(Cause of hardening of the arteries – and potential treatment – identified, University of Cambridge)