internal combustion engine

noun

|Updated on: 19 Jun 2018

Definition of internal combustion engine

: a heat engine in which the combustion that generates the heat takes place inside the engine proper instead of in a furnace

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Recent Examples of internal combustion engine from the Web

Even after a century, and even with alternate fuels and methods of propulsion, the internal combustion engine remains the biggest game in town.

— blake z. rong, Popular Mechanics, "The Evolution of the Combustion Engine," 5 June 2018
The internal combustion engine will disappear quickly, in my view, once electric cars become as cheap to buy as traditional autos and when they can be recharged in 15 minutes or so.

— jack ewing, New York Times, "What Improved Tech Means for Electric, Self-Driving and Flying Cars," 16 May 2018
The two motors power the car under easy throttle at lower speeds, while the engine kicks on at midrange speed to supplement power, and takes over at highway speeds when the internal combustion engine is at its most efficient.

— robert duffer, chicagotribune.com, "Plug-in Cadillacs evolve with CT6 sedan," 27 Feb. 2018
In the world of automotive propulsion, the hierarchy of complication goes something like this: Pure electric cars are simple; internal combustion engines, with many more parts and those explosions, are complex.

— eric adams, WIRED, "The Crazy, Complicated Engineering Inside Honda's New Clarity Hybrid," 27 Apr. 2018
Electrification is viewed as a complement to the internal combustion engine.

— phoebe wall howard, Detroit Free Press, "Why were the Saudis at the Detroit auto show? To push green gas," 18 Feb. 2018
Use of items such as chainsaws that are powered by internal combustion engines is prohibited between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Fire-restriction facts Fireworks, explosives and pyrotechnic devices are always prohibited in national forests.

— jason pohl, azcentral, "Strict Arizona fire limits in place sooner than usual as wildfire season arrives," 1 May 2018
And while diesel was extremely popular in Europe thanks to government subsidies, those same governments are now putting in place measures to ban all new internal combustion engine sales between 2030 and 2040.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Bosch might just have solved the problem of diesel NOx emissions," 27 Apr. 2018
Several automakers, including Volvo, have announced plans to move away from internal combustion engines.

— andrew maykuth, Philly.com, "Malvern start-up imagines a world where electric vehicles are recharged wirelessly," 26 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'internal combustion engine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.