engine

[ en-juhn ]
See synonyms for engine on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a machine for converting thermal energy into mechanical energy or power to produce force and motion.

  2. a railroad locomotive.

  1. Computers. a piece or collection of software that drives a later process (used in combination, as in game engine; software engine).: See also search engine.

  2. any mechanical contrivance.

  3. a machine or instrument used in warfare, as a battering ram, catapult, or piece of artillery.

  4. a means by which something is achieved, accomplished, or furthered: Trade is an engine of growth that creates jobs, reduces poverty, and increases economic opportunity.

  5. Obsolete. an instrument of torture, especially the rack.

Origin of engine

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English engin, from Anglo-French, Old French engign, enging, from Latin ingenium “nature, innate quality, mental power, clever invention,” equivalent to in- “in” + -genium (equivalent to gen- “begetting” + -ium noun suffix); see in-2, kin, -ium

Other words from engine

  • en·gine·less, adjective
  • mul·ti·en·gine, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use engine in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for engine

engine

/ (ˈɛndʒɪn) /


noun
  1. any machine designed to convert energy, esp heat energy, into mechanical work: a steam engine; a petrol engine

    • a railway locomotive

    • (as modifier): the engine cab

  1. military any of various pieces of equipment formerly used in warfare, such as a battering ram or gun

  2. obsolete any instrument or device: engines of torture

Origin of engine

1
C13: from Old French engin, from Latin ingenium nature, talent, ingenious contrivance, from in- ² + -genium, related to gignere to beget, produce

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

Scientific definitions for engine

engine

[ ĕnjĭn ]


  1. 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.