- a heat engine in which heat is supplied by burning the fuel in the working fluid (usually air)
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
inˈter•nal-comˈbus•tion ˌen•gine, n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Automotivean engine in which the process of combustion or the burning of fuel takes place within the engine's cylinders.
inter′nal-combus′tion en′gine,
- Automotivean engine of one or more working cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place within the cylinders.
- 1880–85
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
internal-combustion engine n
'internal combustion engine' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
afterburner
- air cleaner
- antifreeze
- aspirate
- backfire
- Benz
- big end
- blower
- boost
- breather
- camshaft
- car
- carburation
- combustion chamber
- connecting rod
- crankcase
- crankshaft
- cylinder
- Daimler
- decarbonize
- detonation
- diesel engine
- distribution
- electronic ignition
- fire
- four-cycle
- four-stroke
- fuel injection
- gas turbine
- gudgeon pin
- hybrid
- ignition
- ignition coil
- induction
- injector
- internal-combustion engine
- knock
- lean-burn
- magneto
- manifold
- mixture
- motor
- motorbus
- motor vehicle
- overhead camshaft
- overhead-valve engine
- petrol engine
- piston
- point
- poppet