engine

plural engines

1. A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc.First known use 14th c.

   Their warlike Engins and munition Exceed the forces of their martial men.

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene i

2. archaicA tool; a utensil or implement.First known use 14th c.

   What if the Foot, ordain'd the duſt to tread, / Or Hand, to toil, aſpir'd to be the Head? / What if the Head, the Eye, or Ear repin'd / To ſerve mere Engines to the ruling Mind?

   1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 15, lines 248–251

   1 more example

   Flattery must be the most powerful Argument that cou'd be used to Human Creatures. Making use of this bewitching Engine, they extoll'd the Excellency of our Nature above other Animals [...].

   1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees

3. A complex mechanical device which converts energy into useful motion or physical effects.First known use 16th c.

   Synonyms: drive, motor

4. A person or group of people which influence a larger group; a driving force.First known use 16th c.

   In France, the parliament soon became a mere engine in the hands of a few high-born and ambitious men, who had nothing in common with its interests, which were those of the people.

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 75

5. The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion.First known use 19th c.
6. A self-powered vehicle used for moving cars along a track.First known use 19th c.
   1. usuallyA locomotive.
7. computingA software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word).First known use 20th c.

   a physics engine

   1 more example

   a graphics engine

8. obsoleteIngenuity; cunning, trickery, guile.First known use 13th–17th c.
9. obsoleteThe result of cunning; something ingenious, a contrivance; (in negative senses) a plot, a scheme.First known use 13th–18th c.

   Therefore this craftie engine he did frame, / Againſt his praiſe to ſtirre vp enmitye [...].

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 193

10. obsoleteNatural talent; genius.First known use 14th–17th c.
11. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.

    [...] their promiſes, entiſements, oathes, tokens, and all theſe engines of luſt [...].

    c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 243, column 1

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    You ſee the ways the Fiſher-man doth take / To catch the Fiſh; what Engins doth he make?

    1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC

present singular third person engines · participle present engining · participle past engined · past engined

1. datedtransitiveTo equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels.

   Vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another.

2. obsoletetransitiveTo assault with an engine.

   to engine and batter our walls

   1629, Thomas Adams, Plain-Dealing

3. obsoletetransitiveTo contrive; to put into action.