Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun steam_engine

1 sense of steam engine

Sense 1
steam engine -- (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)
       => external-combustion engine -- (a heat engine in which ignition occurs outside the chamber (cylinder or turbine) in which heat is converted to mechanical energy)