Lexic.us

Definition of Engine

1. Noun. Motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work.

2. Noun. Something used to achieve a purpose. "An engine of change"

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

4. Noun. An instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc.. "Medieval engines of war"

Definition of Engine

1. n. (Pronounced, in this sense, &?;&?;&?;&?;.) Natural capacity; ability; skill.

2. v. t. To assault with an engine.

Definition of Engine

1. Noun. (obsolete) Cunning, trickery. ¹

2. Noun. (obsolete) The result of cunning; a plot, a scheme. ¹

3. Noun. (engineering) A device to convert energy into useful mechanical motion, especially heat energy ¹

4. Noun. A powered locomotive used for pulling cars on railways. ¹

5. Noun. A person or group of people which influence a larger group. ¹

6. Noun. (informal) the brain or heart. ¹

7. Noun. (computing) A software system, not a complete program, responsible for a technical task (as in ''layout engine'', ''physics engine''). ¹

8. Verb. (obsolete) To assault with an engine. ¹

9. Verb. (dated) To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels. ¹

10. Verb. (obsolete) To rack; to torture. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Engine

1. to equip with machinery [v -GINED, -GINING, -GINES]

Medical Definition of Engine

1. 1. (Pronounced, in this sense,) Natural capacity; ability; skill. "A man hath sapiences three, Memory, engine, and intellect also." (Chaucer) 2. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent. "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." 4. 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. A method of ornamentation by means of a rose engine. 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, electromagnetic 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. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Engine

engendered reliance engenderer engenderers engendering engenders engendre engendrure engendrures engenious engild

engilded engilding engilds engilt engin. engine (current term) engine block engine cooling system engine displacement engine driver

engine drivers engine failure engine reamer engine room engine rooms engine trouble engine troubles engined engineer engineer's chain

Literary usage of Engine

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. South Eastern Reporter by West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, West Publishing Company, South Carolina Supreme Court (1922)
"He continued, without again stopping or again track by the engine of the railroad, running j looking south, without hearing the engine or backwards, ..."

2. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1918)
"This is particularly true of an aeroplane engine because its service is so much more severe than that of an automobile engine that any weakness will show ..."

3. Dictionary of National Biography by LESLIE. STEPHEN (1894)
"It represents an atmospheric engine with wooden beam and arch-heads of the ... The engine made twelve strokes per minute, raising fifty gallons of water ..."

4. Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers by American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1891)
"The ideal engine, as the term is here employed, is that which is treated of in all purely thermodynamic studies of the engine as free from those wastes of ..."

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