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steam engine

noun

: an engine driven or worked by steam
specifically : a reciprocating engine having a piston driven in a closed cylinder by steam

Examples of steam engine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Ceres Rail offers a scenic tourist train—a historic steam engine—that travels from Cape Town to Elgin Railway Market. Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 1 Dec. 2025 It’s made in the shadow of films like Jeremiah Johnson and There Will Be Blood, but Train Dreams tracks its own path, intertwining the totality of Grainier’s life with the dramatic shifts in the landscape that the steam engine brought with it. Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 25 Nov. 2025 Solomon, speaking from the sidelines of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit in Washington, cited the disruption caused by the invention in the late 1700s of the steam engine, which helped fuel the first industrial revolution. Matt Egan, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025 Hoping to attract steam engines and gunpowder manufacturers, Delaware’s leaders could scarcely have imagined that, a century later, the ‘Delaware Inc’ model would serve as the foundation for smartphones, search engines and electric cars. Jan Hammer, Fortune, 18 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for steam engine

Word History

First Known Use

1751, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of steam engine was in 1751

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Steam engine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/steam%20engine. Accessed 4 Dec. 2025.

Kids Definition

steam engine

noun
: an engine driven by steam

More from Merriam-Webster on steam engine

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