donkey engine
- noun
- /ˈdɔŋki ˈɛnʤɪn/
- Archaic
:
motor auxiliar
- The ship's donkey engine powered the winch for lifting the anchor.
Examples
-
The old steamship still uses a donkey engine to raise the anchor.
-
Many vessels rely on donkey engines for auxiliary power.
-
The crew relied on the donkey engine for operating various mechanical gear.
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They repaired the donkey engine before lifting the cargo onto the deck.
-
The crew relied on the donkey engine for operating various mechanical gear.
-
The ship's donkey engine powered the winch for lifting the anchor.
-
The old steamship still uses a donkey engine to raise the anchor.
Synonyms
1
6.1
A small motor on a ship that gives extra power or runs equipment like an anchor winch
How Powerful
- Archaic
- Specialized
20
6.6
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 image of the donkey as a steady helper that does hard, repeated work. On ships a small extra engine did chores like raising the anchor, so sailors called it a donkey engine, meaning 'a small helper engine'.