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Synonyms of Engine
beam, bypass, combustion, donkey, induction, jet, locomotive, mogul, motor, ram, steam, synchronous
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engine
9 dictionary results for: Engine
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
en·gine 
[en-juhn] Pronunciation Key
[en-juhn] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | a machine for converting thermal energy into mechanical energy or power to produce force and motion. |
| 2. | a railroad locomotive. |
| 3. | a fire engine. |
| 4. | any mechanical contrivance. |
| 5. | a machine or instrument used in warfare, as a battering ram, catapult, or piece of artillery. |
| 6. | Obsolete. an instrument of torture, esp. the rack. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| en·gine
(ěn'jĭn) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. en·gined, en·gin·ing, en·gines To equip with an engine or engines. [Middle English engin, skill, machine, from Old French, innate ability, from Latin ingenium; see genə- in Indo-European roots.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
engine
engine
c.1300, from O.Fr. engin "skill, cleverness," also "war machine," from L. ingenium "inborn qualities, talent," from in- "in" + gen-, root of gignere "to beget, produce." At first meaning a trick or device, or any machine (especially military); sense of one that converts energy to mechanical power is 18c., especially of steam engines. Engineer "locomotive driver" is first attested 1839, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| engine | |
noun | |
| 1. | motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work |
| 2. | something used to achieve a purpose; "an engine of change" |
| 3. | a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks [syn: locomotive] |
| 4. | an instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc.; "medieval engines of war" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| engine
(ěn'jĭn) Pronunciation Key
A machine that turns energy into mechanical force or motion, especially one that gets its energy from a source of heat, such as the burning of a fuel. The efficiency of an engine is the ratio between the kinetic energy produced by the machine and the energy needed to produce it. See more at internal-combustion engine, steam engine., See also motor.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
engine jargon
1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of front end. Today we have, especially, "print engine": the guts of a laser printer.
2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a lot of noisy crunching, such as a "database engine", or "search engine".
The hackish senses of "engine" are actually close to its original, pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or instrument (the word is cognate to "ingenuity"). This sense had not been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which explains why he named the stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the "Analytical Engine".
[The Jargon File]
(1996-05-31)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This
1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of front end. Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer.
2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a lot of noisy crunching, such as a `database engine'.
The hacker senses of `engine' are actually close to its original, pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity'). This sense had not been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which explains why he named the stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the `Analytical Engine'.
engine
n.1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be used without some kind of front end. Today we have, especially, `print engine': the guts of a laser printer.
2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a lot of noisy crunching, such as a `database engine'.
The hacker senses of `engine' are actually close to its original, pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity'). This sense had not been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which explains why he named the stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the `Analytical Engine'.
Jargon File 4.2.0
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Engine
En"gine\, n. [F. engin skill, machine, engine, L. ingenium natural capacity, invention; in in + the root of gignere to produce. See Genius, and cf. Ingenious, Gin a snare.]1. (Pronounced, in this sense, ????.) Natural capacity; ability; skill. [Obs.] A man hath sapiences three, Memory, engine, and intellect also. --Chaucer. 2. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent. --Shak. You see the ways the fisherman doth take To catch the fish; what engines doth he make? --Bunyan. Their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust. --Shak. 3. Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture. "Terrible engines of death." --Sir W. Raleigh. 4. (Mach.) A compound machine by which any physical power is applied to produce a given physical effect. Engine driver, one who manages an engine; specifically, the engineer of a locomotive. Engine lathe. (Mach.) See under Lathe. Engine tool, a machine tool. --J. Whitworth. Engine turning (Fine Arts), a method of ornamentation by means of a rose engine. Note: The term engine is more commonly applied to massive machines, or to those giving power, or which produce some difficult result. Engines, as motors, are distinguished according to the source of power, as steam engine, air engine, electro-magnetic engine; or the purpose on account of which the power is applied, as fire engine, pumping engine, locomotive engine; or some peculiarity of construction or operation, as single-acting or double-acting engine, high-pressure or low-pressure engine, condensing engine, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Engine
En"gine\, v. t. 1. To assault with an engine. [Obs.] To engine and batter our walls. --T. Adams. 2. To equip with an engine; -- said especially of steam vessels; as, vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another. 3. (Pronounced, in this sense, ?????.) To rack; to torture. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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