Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A machine that converts energy into mechanical force or motion.
- noun Such a machine distinguished from an electric, spring-driven, or hydraulic motor by its use of a fuel.
- noun A mechanical appliance, instrument, or tool.
- noun An agent, instrument, or means of accomplishment.
- noun A locomotive.
- noun A fire engine.
- noun Computers A search engine.
- transitive verb To equip with an engine or engines.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Innate or natural ability; ingenuity; craft; skill.
- noun An artful device or contrivance; a skilfully devised plan or method; a subtle artifice.
- noun An instrumental agent or agency of any kind; anything used to effect a purpose; an instrumentality.
- noun An apparatus for producing some mechanical effect; especially, a skilful mechanical contrivance: used in a very general way.
- noun Specifically— A snare, gin, or trap.
- noun A mechanism, instrument, weapon, or tool by which a violent effect is produced, as a musket, cannon, rack, catapult, battering-ram, etc.; specifically, in old use, a rack for torture; by extension, any tool or instrument: as, engines of war or of torture.
- noun More particulary— A skilfully contrived mechanism or machine, the parts of which concur in producing an intended effect; a machine for applying any of the mechanical or physical powers to effect a particular purpose; especially, a self-contained, self-moving mechanism for the conversion of energy into useful work: as, a hydraulic engine for utilizing the pressure of water; a steam-, gas-, or air-engine, in which the elastic force of steam, gas, or air is utilized; a fire-engine; stationary or locomotive engines. In popular absolute use, the word generally has reference to a locomotive engine. See these words.
- noun A locomotive which has two or more pairs of driving-wheels coupled together by side or parallel rods.
- noun A form of engine in which the crank is driven by the pressure on two rectangular pistons, the second of which traverses in a suitable recess in the first This double motion enables the pistons to follow the angular displacement of the crank without the use of connecting-rods, and gives a square section to the case inclosing the two pistons.
- To contrive.
- To assault with engines of war.
- To torture by means of an engine; rack.
- To furnish with an engine or engines: as, the vessel was built on the Clyde and engined at Greenwich.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To assault with an engine.
- transitive verb To equip with an engine; -- said especially of steam vessels.
- transitive verb obsolete To rack; to torture.
- noun obsolete Natural capacity; ability; skill.
- noun Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; a machine; an agent.
- noun Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture.
- noun (Mach.) A compound machine by which any physical power is applied to produce a given physical effect.
- noun one who manages an engine; specifically, the engineer of a locomotive.
- noun (Mach.) See under
Lathe . - noun a machine tool.
- noun (Fine Arts) a method of ornamentation by means of a rose engine.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete
Cunning ,trickery . - noun obsolete The result of cunning; a
plot , ascheme . - noun engineering A
device to convertenergy into useful mechanical motion, especially heat energy - noun A powered
locomotive used for pulling cars onrailways . - noun A person or group of people which influence a larger group.
- noun informal the brain or heart.
- noun computing A software system, not a complete
program , responsible for a technical task (as in layout engine, physics engine). - verb obsolete To
assault with an engine. - verb dated To
equip with an engine; said especially ofsteam vessels . - verb obsolete To
rack ; totorture .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc.
- noun motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
- noun a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that is used to draw trains along railway tracks
- noun something used to achieve a purpose
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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An engine working on this principle has therefore been called a _high-pressure engine_.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 575, November 10, 1832 Various
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One of the most important changes in our engine revision strategy is moving to the Cloudmark antispam engine*, which provides 99%+ detection rate and less than 1 in 250,000 false positives (West Coast Labs).
TechNet Blogs 2009
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Miraculously, the TAG engine kept running as he accelerated on to the finish straight to win the championship, the first time a driver had done so in successive years since Jack Brabham in 1959/60.
Chequered Conflict Maurice Hamilton 2008
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The concept of a bike that doesn't sound like a large clanking train engine is a new concept.
October 2nd, 2004 2004
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And feeding fuel to the engine is a 39mm Kehin FCR-MX carb with TPS (throttle positioning sensor).
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Feeding fuel to the engine is an effective EFI system that helps provide instant cold starting.
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From watchtowers, the British army surveys what they call the engine room of iron Republican terrorism.
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Key issues: Berg wants to cut taxes and regulation to help drive small business -- what he calls the engine of economic growth.
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Instead, the focus needs to be on the fundamental security of "what I call the engine for the modern economy when it comes to cyber infrastructure."
FCW News 2009
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A vibrant, free economy energized by what I call the engine of "New Enlightened Capitalism"
The BEING HAD Times 2008
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The term generative engine optimisation was only coined last year in an academic paper, whose authors concluded that using authoritative language (regardless of what is expressed or whether the information is correct) alongside references (even those that are incorrect or unrelated to what they’re being used to cite) could boost visibility in chatbot responses by up to 40%.
The chatbot optimisation game: can we trust AI web searches? Callum Bains 2024
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