steam engine

noun
1.
an engine worked by steam, typically one in which a sliding piston in a cylinder is moved by the expansive action of the steam generated in a boiler.
Origin
1745-55
Related forms
steam-engine, adjective
Examples from the web for steam engine
  • The core of a steam engine is a cylinder that is sealed at one end and has a moving piston at the other.
  • But others were wary of the steam engine, which was frequently caricatured as a fiery dragon.
  • As the water inside the coils is superheated the steam is piped to a radial steam engine, which consists of six pistons.
  • Soon, he was maintaining a steam engine for a nearby farmer.
  • Even though, somebody was able to fly an airplane fitted with an steam engine.
  • For example, claiming that a steam engine produces less condensate when the boiler is hotter is real lunacy.
  • The present new invention is nothing less than a cold steam engine.
  • For example, a steam engine that has more heat applied to its boiler has more water forming in its condenser.
  • There was plenty of capitalism before the factory and the steam engine.
  • steam engine burning fossil fuels are actually more efficient than internal combustion.
Word Origin and History for steam engine
n.

1751; earlier in the same sense was fire engine, atmospheric engine.

steam engine in Science
steam engine  

An engine in which the energy of hot steam is converted into mechanical power, especially an engine in which the force of expanding steam is used to drive one or more pistons. The source of the steam is typically external to the part of the machine that converts the steam energy into mechanical energy. Compare internal-combustion engine.