Engine

a term applied exclusively to military affairs in the Bible. The engines to which the term is applied in (2 Chronicles 26:15) were designed to propel various missiles from the walls of the besieged town. One, with which the Hebrews were acquainted, was the battering ram, described in (Ezekiel 26:9) and still more precisely in (Ezekiel 4:2; 21:22)

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent. Shak. You see the ways the fisherman doth take To catch the fish; what engines doth he make Bunyan. Their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust. Shak.

2. Any instrument by which any effect is produced; especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture. "Terrible engines of death." Sir W. Raleigh.

3. A compound machine by which any physical power is applied to produce a given physical effect. Engine driver, one who manages an engine; specifically, the engineer of a locomotive. -- Engine lathe. (Mach.) See under Lathe. -- Engine tool, a machine tool. J. Whitworth. -- Engine turning (Fine Arts), a method of ornamentation by means of a rose engine.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To assault with an engine. [Obs.] To engine and batter our walls. T. Adams.

2. To equip with an engine; -- said especially of steam vessels; as, vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another.