Complete classic literature • Five-line readings • Clear US narration
VELMORA ACADEMY
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engine

noun US /ˈendʒən/

motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work

How often you will meet it

Rank 2,989 of 86,757 words measured. It occurs 43,905 times across 426,181 published chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.

What it means

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 also: locomotive, locomotive engine, railway locomotive
  4. an instrument or machine that is used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult, artillery piece, etc. medieval engines of war

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary · Princeton WordNet 3.1

engine in real books

Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.

  • Markley sat in the middle where he watched the engine.

    Static · Wallace West · Chapter 1

  • He was strong; but so also are the driving-wheels of an engine.

    A Knight of the Nineteenth Century · Edward Payson Roe · Chapter 2

  • I would have run that engine back until every track was clear had I had my way.

    Harper's Round Table, August 13, 1895 · Various · Chapter 2

  • There it stood, its motionless engine sending out odors of hot varnish and little shimmering waves of heat.

    Steve and the Steam Engine · Sara Ware Bassett · Chapter 1

  • It was an insignificant matter in itself, but it acted like the little safety-valve which prevents the bursting of a high-pressure engine.

    Six Months at the Cape · R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne · Chapter 1

Nearby in the frequency table

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