internal-combustion engine
11
4.5
- noun
- /ɪnˈtɜrnəl kəmˈbʌstʃən ˈɛnʤɪn/
- Specialized
:
motor de combustión interna
- The spark-ignited internal combustion engine was the great enabling technology for the automobile.
- internal-combustion engine with fuel
- gasoline internal-combustion engine
- internal-combustion engine emissions
You have both an EV platform and an internal combustion engine system and a gas tank.
- You have both an EV platform and an internal combustion engine system and a gas tank.
- I mean, we're still pumping gas into internal combustion engines.
- They said that they would use the proceeds to buy more internal combustion engine cars.
- So Carl Benz sort of makes a really good version of an internal combustion engine.
- And paved roads, right, Air filled tires and the internal combustion engine.
- And all which and all transportation systems, internal combustion engines, jet engines, rockets, surface roads.
- So your TEF, our bodies are kind of like, for lack of a poor analogy, but analogy that works is cars like internal combustion engine.
Examples
-
By 1920, the internal combustion engine had won the race for control of the roads, and the modern automobile age was born.
-
People would be more likely to trade in their internal combustion engine vehicles for all electric vehicles.
Blog text (18) -
Sir, perhaps you would take a few moments and show the children how an internal combustion engine works.
-
Over the last several years, the internal combustion engines began to show their age.
Academic text (2002) -
Once I have learned how an internal combustion engine works, I will be able to follow your reasoning.
Academic text (1994) -
The invention of the internal combustion engine was attributed to a German, Gottlieb Daimler.
Fiction book (1990) -
The internal combustion engine powers most cars on the road today.
-
Engineers are constantly working to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine.
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The internal combustion engine operates by burning fuel inside the engine itself.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A machine that uses fuel to make power for cars or machines
90
6.5
A car engine that burns fuel to make the car move
Surface Forms
Morphology
internal-combustion + engine
The phrase is compositionally built from 'internal' (inside) + 'combustion' (burning) and 'engine' (machine), so a learner who knows these words can infer it refers to an engine in which burning occurs inside the device. This transparent, descriptive compound follows regular English word-formation and has direct parallels in other languages, making it readily comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The name internal-combustion engine comes from the fact that fuel is burned inside the machine: internal means 'inside' and combustion means 'burning'. That inside burning makes hot gas that pushes parts to create power, so the name means an engine that makes power by burning fuel inside.