ENGINE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Engine

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/ˈɛndʒən/ /ˈɪndʒən/ Listen

noun

Engine n.

1.

Natural capacity; ability; skill. (Obs.) "A man hath sapiences three, Memory, engine, and intellect also."

2.

Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; a machine; an agent. "You see the ways the fisherman doth take To catch the fish; what engines doth he make?" "Their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust."

3.

Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture. "Terrible engines of death."

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.

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.

verb

Engine v. t.

1.

To assault with an engine. (Obs.) "To engine and batter our walls."

2.

To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels; as, vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another.

3.

To rack; to torture. (Obs.)

See images of 'Engine'

Etymology of 'Engine'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Engine" Quotes from Famous Books

... are of all sorts and sizes, from that which churns 70 or 80 gallons by means of a strap from the engine, to the square box in which a pound of butter is made. The churn used for families is a square box, 18 inches by 12 or 13, and 17 deep, bevelled below to the plane of the dashers, with a loose lid or cover. ...

— The Book of Household Management • Mrs. Isabella Beeton

... would permit. In the Northern Atlantic States the highlands approached more nearly to the sea, and the rivers made their last leap near to harbors of commerce. Water-power being relied on before the steam-engine had been made, and ships the medium of commerce before railroads and locomotives were introduced, it followed that the staples of the Southern plains were economically sent to the water-power of the North to be manufactured. This remark, of course, applies to such ...

— The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government • Jefferson Davis

... sailing ship and the lumbering wagon dragging slowly over all but impassable roads, for one country to derive any considerable profit from another, it had, practically, to administer it politically. But the compound steam engine, the railway, the telegraph, have profoundly modified the elements of the whole problem. In the modern world political dominion is playing a more and more effaced role as a factor in commerce; the ...

— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 21 - The Recent Days (1910-1914) • Charles F. Horne, Editor

... understand that we can't run a motor-car after the gasoline is played out. The burning of the oil in the engine gives the power. The burning of fats in the muscles gives the laborer his power. Sugar and starches are the next best things to fat, and that's why we could eat the thick slabs of sweet pie. We relished it well and have burned it all up in our labor in the ...

— The Iron Puddler • James J. Davis

... are the care of the Third Sea Lord, And all Material kept on board. 'Tis he must see that the big guns boom And the wheels go round in the engine-room; 'Tis he must find, for cloudy forays, Aeroplanes and Astra Torres; And, long ere anything's sent to sea, Tot up a bill for ...

— Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 9, 1914 • Various

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