tank locomotive
- noun
- /tæŋk ˌloʊkəˈmoʊtɪv/
- Archaic
:
locomotora de tanque
- Because a tank locomotive does not require a tender, it is ideal for short journeys and branch lines.
Examples
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The old railway museum displays a beautifully restored tank locomotive from the late nineteenth century.
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Engineers praised the tank locomotive for its ability to easily reverse direction on tight tracks.
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The tank locomotive is a marvel of engineering.
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We saw a tank locomotive at the railway museum.
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The old railway museum displays a beautifully restored tank locomotive from the late nineteenth century.
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Because a tank locomotive does not require a tender, it is ideal for short journeys and branch lines.
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Engineers praised the tank locomotive for its ability to easily reverse direction on tight tracks.
Synonyms
1
5.0
A steam train that carries its own fuel and water without another car behind it
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from 'tank' (a container for liquids) + 'locomotive' (a rail vehicle): it denotes a locomotive that carries tanks for fuel/water. This is a regular, compositional compound found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Tank locomotive comes from the simple picture of a steam locomotive that carries its own tanks of water and fuel on the engine, instead of pulling a separate car called a 'tender'. That's why the name fits and why these engines were useful for short journeys and tight tracks today.