Definition of carburetor
: a mechanical apparatus for premixing vaporized fuel and air in proper proportions and supplying the mixture to an internal combustion engine
From the M-W Editors
Recent Examples of carburetor from the Web
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The SOHC 1.5-liter 12-valver, equipped with a three-barrel carburetor, wound out a whopping 52 horsepower at 5000 rpm.
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The thyroid gland acts as a kind of carburetor in the body, adjusting the speed of the body’s metabolism.
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Still others explore the cosmic enigmas of carburetors and burned-out Chevrolets—or maybe that just happens in Bruce Springsteen songs.
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Fuel injection replaced carburetors and silicon chips began taking over ever more control of the engine, brakes and transmission.
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More commonly, if less dramatically, the handy among us changed our own oil, tweaked our own carburetors and replaced our own spark plugs.
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Carburetors that mixed fuel with air disappeared from assembly lines long ago.
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Gone are the days when the portly guy who can fix a carburetor is quick or fit enough to carry a tire or operate a jack.
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With six carburetors, one for every two cylinders, the car produced 330 horsepower.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carburetor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of carburetor
1896
CARBURETOR Defined for English Language Learners
carburetor
playDefinition of carburetor for English Language Learners
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: the part of an engine in which gasoline is mixed with air so it will burn and provide the engine with power
CARBURETOR Defined for Kids
carburetor
playDefinition of carburetor for Students
: the part of an engine in which liquid fuel (as gasoline) is mixed with air to make it burn easily
Learn More about carburetor
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See words that rhyme with carburetor Spanish Central: Translation of carburetor Nglish: Translation of carburetor for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about carburetor
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