engine driver
1
3.3
- noun
- /ˈɛn.dʒɪn ˈdraɪ.vər/
- UK
:
maquinista
- He might want to be an engine driver next week.
Examples
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What the devil is the engine driver up to?
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Here comes Ivor the dirty old city engine driver to make you feel all right.
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Engine driver.
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The engine driver crawls out from under the locomotive, red, wet, a piece of soot sticking to his nose...
Fiction book (1997) -
The engine driver skillfully navigated the train through the mountainous terrain.
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As an experienced engine driver, she was responsible for ensuring the safety of her passengers.
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Every day, the engine driver checks the locomotive's systems before starting his shift.
Synonyms
37
2.7
A person who drives a train
1
3.4
A person who drives a train and controls its engine
A person who drives a train or locomotive
A person who drives a train engine
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a person who operates a railway locomotive' is directly and compositionally derived from 'engine' (locomotive) + 'driver' (person who drives). This regular noun+noun compound pattern is cross-linguistically common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Engine driver comes from the simple image of a person sitting at the front of a train who controls the engine like a driver of a car, using levers and brakes to make the train go or stop. So it means 'a person who operates a railway locomotive'.