ETYM French engin skill, machine, engine, Latin ingenium natural capacity, invention; in in + the root of gignere to produce. Related to Genius, Ingenious, Gin a snare.
1. Converts thermal energy to mechanical work.
2. Something used to achieve a purpose.
/> Device for converting stored energy into useful work or movement. Most engines use a fuel as their energy store. The fuel is burned to produce heat energy—hence the name “heat engine”—which is then converted into movement. Heat engines can be classified according to the fuel they use (gasoline engine or diesel engine), or according to whether the fuel is burned inside (internal combustion engine) or outside (steam engine) the engine, or according to whether they produce a reciprocating or rotary motion (turbine or Wankel engine). + prikaži više

Locomotive.

Self-propelled engine used to draw trains along railway tracks; SYN. engine, locomotive engine, railway locomotive.
Engine for hauling railroad trains. In 1804 Richard Trevithick built the first steam engine to run on rails. Locomotive design did not radically improve until British engineer George Stephenson built the Rocket 1829, which featured a multitube boiler and blastpipe, standard in all following steam locomotives. Today most locomotives are diesel or electric: diesel locomotives have a powerful diesel engine, and electric locomotives draw their power from either an overhead cable or a third rail alongside the ordinary track.
In a steam locomotive, fuel (usually coal, sometimes wood) is burned in a furnace. The hot gases and flames produced are drawn through tubes running through a huge water-filled boiler and heat up the water to steam. The steam is then fed to the cylinders, where it forces the pistons back and forth. Movement of the pistons is conveyed to the wheels by cranks and connecting rods. Diesel locomotives have a powerful diesel engine, burning oil.
The engine may drive a generator to produce electricity to power electric motors that turn the wheels, or the engine drives the wheels mechanically or through a hydraulic link. A number of gas-turbine locomotives are in use, in which a turbine spun by hot gases provides the power to drive the wheels. + prikaži više