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engine

noun

Simple meaning

A main part of a machine, or a motor that powers something

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ehnjuhn

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɛndʒən

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion.

  2. Motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work

  3. A complex mechanical device which converts energy into useful motion or physical effects.

  4. A person or group of people which influence a larger group; a driving force.

  5. A self-powered vehicle used for moving cars along a track.

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

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work

Used this way, engine is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is an engineering use: it is a working term used for accuracy on the job.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Specialist/technical
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Specialized
Connotation
Clinical and technical
Usage feel
Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

  • Technical/specialist writing
  • Science

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Nearby words

  • locomotive engine , rarer, so it draws attention
  • railway locomotive , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use engine

  • “The car's engine started making a strange noise this morning.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Motor / complex

heat engine

Self

combustion enginegasoline engine

Other combinations

steam engineengine roomfire enginejet engineengine oil

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • engineernounInflected form

    A person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • engine drivernounCompound term

    The operator of a railway locomotive.

  • engine failurenounCompound term

    Engine does not run.

  • engine roomnounCompound term

    A room (as on a ship) in which the engine is located.

  • engine cooling systemnounCompound term

    Equipment in a motor vehicle that cools the engine.

  • engine blocknounCompound term

    A metal casting containing the cylinders and cooling ducts of an engine.

  • army engineernounCompound term

    A member of the military who is trained in engineering and construction work.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: part of a car

locomotive engineRarerailway locomotiveRare

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.