ion engine
3
6.6
- noun
- /ˈaɪən ˈɛnʤɪn/
- Specialized
:
motor iónico
- Lightweight ion engines have already passed the test in outer space.
Other options, there's a group in Europe that's looking at using ion engines where you have a spacecraft that then has a double ended ion engine.
- Other options, there's a group in Europe that's looking at using ion engines where you have a spacecraft that then has a double ended ion engine.
- And then that's definitely true with I ion engine then, right.
Examples
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The principal advantage of ion engines is that they're very efficient, but they don't provide a lot of thrust.
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All that now remained of Deepstar was a fifty-meter tower of broken girders enclosing the solid pillar of the heavy-ion engine.
Fiction book (1990) -
I was thinking of a combination of chemical rockets and ion engines.
Blog text (13) -
Other options, there's a group in Europe that's looking at using ion engines where you have a spacecraft that then has a double ended ion engine.
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The ESA SMART-1 lunar probe used an ion engine to fly to the Moon.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'ion' modifies 'engine' to denote an engine that uses ions (charged particles) for propulsion, so a learner who knows both constituent words can infer it is an engine powered by ions. This is a regular noun–noun compound pattern found cross-linguistically, making the sense predictable rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
The term ion engine comes from how it works: the engine pushes tiny charged particles called ions using electricity. That's why it now means a spacecraft engine that gives a small, steady 'push' or a long, gentle 'thrust'.