donkey engine
- noun
- /ˈdɔŋki ˈɛnʤɪn/
- Archaic
:
locomotora de maniobra
- The old donkey engine chugged back and forth, rearranging the freight cars.
Examples
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He spent his career operating a donkey engine in the city's main switching yard.
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The donkey engine moved the cars around the yard.
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A donkey engine is essential for efficient operations in busy rail yards.
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Many donkey engines are still in use today.
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The small donkey engine worked tirelessly to organize the freight cars in the yard.
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After years of service, the old donkey engine was finally replaced by a more modern locomotive.
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Railroad workers rely on the donkey engine to efficiently switch cars between tracks.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A steam train engine that pulled cars on rails in the 1800s
1
5.0
A steam train that carries its own fuel and water without another car behind it
A small vehicle that moves train cars inside a rail yard
A large machine on wheels that pulls a train on tracks
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines a familiar animal term and 'engine', so learners may infer it's an engine named after or likened to a donkey (suggesting smallness or auxiliary use). However, the specific nautical/technical meaning 'small auxiliary engine used on ships' is a specialized, metaphorical extension not fully predictable from the parts, so a B1 learner would only get a vague idea rather than the precise sense.
Etymology
Donkey engine comes from the picture of a small, strong helper animal, the donkey, doing slow, heavy work. Railway workers called a little locomotive that moves and arranges heavy cars in a yard a donkey engine, so it means 'a small switching engine'.