Definition of "engine"

engine

/ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/

noun
plural engines
1. A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc.
  Quotations
  Their warlike Engins and munitionExceed the forces of their martial men.
  c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, Act IIII, scene i
2. (now archaic) A tool; a utensil or implement.
  Quotations
  Flattery must be the most powerful Argument that cou'd be used to Human Creatures. Making use of this bewitching Engine, they extoll'd the Excellency of our Nature above other Animals [...].
  1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees
  What if the Foot, ordain'd the duſt to tread, / Or Hand, to toil, aſpir'd to be the Head? / What if the Head, the Eye, or Ear repin'd / To ſerve mere Engines to the ruling Mind?
  1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], page 15, lines 248–251
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.
  Quotations
  In France, the parliament soon became a mere engine in the hands of a few high-born and ambitious men, who had nothing in common with its interests, which were those of the people.
  1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), page 75
5. The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion.
6. A self-powered vehicle, especially a locomotive, used for pulling cars along a track.
7. (computing) A software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word).
8. (obsolete) Ingenuity; cunning, trickery, guile.
9. (obsolete) The result of cunning; something ingenious, a contrivance; (in negative senses) a plot, a scheme.
  Quotations
  Therefore this craftie engine he did frame, / Againſt his praiſe to ſtirre vp enmitye [...].
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, page 193
10. (obsolete) Natural talent; genius.
11. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.
  Quotations
  [...] their promiſes, entiſements, oathes, tokens, and all theſe engines of luſt [...].
  c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene v], page 243, column 1
  You ſee the ways the Fiſher-man doth take / To catch the Fiſh; what Engins doth he make?
  1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […]; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, […], 1928,
verb
third-person singular simple present engines, present participle engining, simple past and past participle engined
1. (transitive, dated) To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To assault with an engine.
  Quotations
  to engine and batter our walls
  1629, Thomas Adams, Plain-Dealing
3. (transitive, obsolete) To contrive; to put into action.

Definition of "engine"

engine

noun

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verb

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