locomotive

adjective

lo·co·mo·tive | \ˌlō-kə-ˈmō-tiv

Definition of locomotive

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : locomotory

2 : of or relating to travel

3 : of, relating to, or being a machine that moves about by operation of its own mechanism

locomotive

noun

Definition of locomotive (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : a self-propelled vehicle that runs on rails and is used for moving railroad cars

2 : a school or college cheer characterized by a slow beginning and a progressive increase in speed

Examples of locomotive in a Sentence

Adjective

the locomotive ability of spiders

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

NJ Transit has taken steps to address these issues by recruiting and training additional locomotive engineers. — Lukas Mikelionis, Fox News, "Dem governor flees to $7M Italian vacation home as political, personal problems mount," 1 Aug. 2018 The company’s decision to spin off health care and separate Baker Hughes comes a month after Mr. Flannery agreed to leave the railroad locomotive business in an $11 billion deal. — Thomas Gryta, WSJ, "GE Narrows Focus to Power, Aviation in Latest Revamp," 26 June 2018 The 1950s: Brother X and Brother Not X collected toy trains with everything from a locomotive whistle to a helicopter-launching car thundering along the track. — Kevin Fisher-paulson, SFChronicle.com, "On the town — or in this house, many towns," 3 July 2018 Now, thanks to an analysis of data collected from 40,000 smartphone users around the world, a new property of humanity’s locomotive habits has been revealed. — The Economist, "At any given time in their lives, people have two dozen regular haunts," 28 June 2018 The two businesses, coupled with its railroad locomotive unit that is being sold, accounted for a third of GE’s $122 billion in revenue last year. — Thomas Gryta, WSJ, "GE Narrows Focus to Power, Aviation in Latest Revamp," 26 June 2018 Weeks later, the South African media revealed the majority owner of Trillian as none other than Salim Essa, the Gupta associate whose shell companies had received more than $100 million in the locomotive deal. — New York Times, "How McKinsey Lost Its Way in South Africa," 26 June 2018 The largest divestiture this year is an $11 billion deal to sell its locomotive unit. — Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati.com, "GE breakup so far eludes Nelson Peltz. What does that mean for P&G?," 25 June 2018 Long-Term Research Studies in the past have looked at animals’ locomotive performance, or their ability to move, and at their survival rates. — National Geographic, "Birds That Leave Nest Too Late Can Endanger Their Families," 25 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

But to have so many of them essentially, now, in charge of what have become, basically, the locomotives of human history now, these various platforms, is really, really problematic. — Eric Johnson, Recode, "Elites like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos think they’re being philanthropic. But they could do so much more.," 3 Oct. 2018 Union Pacific has responded by bringing locomotives out of storage, adding railcars to handle the additional cargo and enticing new hires with bonuses of $25,000 or more. — Paul Ziobro, WSJ, "Union Pacific’s Cure for Congestion: Imitate a Rival," 19 Sep. 2018 An additional $67 million was designated for the purchase up to 18 new Regional Rail locomotives. — Jason Laughlin, Philly.com, "SEPTA's 2019 budget funds new buses and trains but plans for drop in ridership revenue," 24 May 2018 The Hartford Line requires three locomotives to support the train schedule. — Gregory B. Hladky, courant.com, "DOT: All Hartford Line Locomotives Won't Be Ready Until June," 12 Apr. 2018 Starting in 2020 and 2021, the locomotives will pull double-decker coaches that are capable of carrying more passengers than standard coaches. — Joseph A. Gambardello, Philly.com, "SEPTA's new Regional Rail locomotive makes debut," 11 July 2018 This image of the unlucky locomotive became the lead art on the front page of the next morning's Los Angeles Times. — Scott Harrison, latimes.com, "From the Archives: Santa Fe locomotive goes through wall," 22 June 2018 A week later, another four elephants were killed in the state, the impact so great that the locomotive disconnected from the rest of the train. — National Geographic, "Can Bees Help Save Elephants From Train Strikes?," 20 June 2018 The royal train first came into use in 1941 as a comfortable way for the monarch and her husband to get around, and the Duchess of Sussex's trip reportedly makes her the first royal of her generation to ride the locomotive. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Answers to Everything You've Been Googling About Meghan Markle and the Queen Today," 15 June 2018

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