Phrase guide

steam engine

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈstiːˌmɛn.d͡ʒɪn/
  • /ˈstiːˌmɛn.d͡ʒən/ weak vowel merger
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any heat engine that uses steam as its primary working fluid to do mechanical work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: engine, device, machine

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any heat engine that uses steam as its primary working fluid to do mechanical work.

A piston engine driven by steam.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fire engine[Appendix:Glossary

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: engine, device, machine

3

noun

Meaning 3

A steam locomotive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, especially

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

external-combustion engine in which heat is used to raise steam which either turns a turbine or forces a piston to move up and down in a cylinder

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: external-combustion engine

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: парна машина (parna mašina) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Chinese Mandarin: 蒸汽機 /蒸汽机 (zhēngqìjī) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Crimean Tatar: buv köçürici — piston engine driven by steam
  • Czech: parní stroj — piston engine driven by steam
  • Czech: parostroj — piston engine driven by steam
  • Danish: dampmaskine — piston engine driven by steam
  • Esperanto: vapormaŝino — piston engine driven by steam
  • Finnish: höyrykone — piston engine driven by steam
  • Finnish: mäntähöyrykone — piston engine driven by steam
  • French: machine à vapeur — piston engine driven by steam
  • Georgian: ორთქლის მანქანა (ortklis mankana) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Georgian: ორთქლის ძრავა (ortklis ʒrava) — piston engine driven by steam
  • German: Dampfmaschine — piston engine driven by steam
  • Greek: ατμομηχανή (atmomichaní) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Gujarati: વરાળયંત્ર (varāḷyantra) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Ingrian: höyrymašina — piston engine driven by steam
  • Italian: motore a vapore — piston engine driven by steam
  • Italian: motrice — piston engine driven by steam
  • Italian: locomotiva a vapore — piston engine driven by steam
  • Japanese: 蒸気機関 (jōki kikan) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Korean: 증기기관 (jeunggigigwan) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Norwegian Bokmål: dampmaskin — piston engine driven by steam
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: dampmaskin — piston engine driven by steam
  • Plautdietsch: Daumpkjätel — piston engine driven by steam
  • Polish: maszyna parowa — piston engine driven by steam
  • Portuguese: máquina a vapor — piston engine driven by steam
  • Romanian: mașină cu abur — piston engine driven by steam
  • Russian: парова́я маши́на (parovája mašína) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Russian: парово́й дви́гатель (parovój dvígatelʹ) — piston engine driven by steam
  • Scottish Gaelic: einnsean-smùide — piston engine driven by steam
  • Serbo-Croatian: parni stroj — piston engine driven by steam
  • Serbo-Croatian: parni stapni stroj — piston engine driven by steam
  • Spanish: máquina de vapor — piston engine driven by steam
  • Swahili: injini ya mvuke — piston engine driven by steam
  • Swedish: ångmaskin — piston engine driven by steam
  • Tagalog: likhisog tubngaw — piston engine driven by steam
  • Turkish: buhar makinesi — piston engine driven by steam
  • Belarusian: параво́з (paravóz) — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Bulgarian: парна машина (parna mašina) — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Crimean Tatar: buv köçürici — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Czech: parní stroj — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Czech: parostroj — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Danish: dampmaskine — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Dutch: stoommachine — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Estonian: aurumasin — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Finnish: höyrykone — any steam-driven heat engine
  • French: machine à vapeur — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Georgian: ორთქლის მანქანა (ortklis mankana) — any steam-driven heat engine
  • German: Dampfmaschine — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Greek: ατμομηχανή (atmomichaní) — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Hungarian: gőzgép — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Ingrian: höyrymašina — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Interlingua: machina de vapor — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Italian: motrice — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Italian: locomotiva a vapore — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Polish: maszyna parowa — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Portuguese: máquina a vapor — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Romanian: mașină cu abur — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Russian: парова́я маши́на (parovája mašína) — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Scottish Gaelic: einnsean-smùide — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Serbo-Croatian: parni stroj — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Serbo-Croatian: parostroj — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Spanish: máquina de vapor — any steam-driven heat engine
  • Turkish: buhar makinesi — any steam-driven heat engine