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Automotive vocabulary · Engine and Fuel Systems

Internal combustion engine

Meaning in automotive, with examples

nounCore term

In automotive, internal combustion engine means: An engine that burns fuel and air inside its cylinders, so the pressure of the hot gas pushes the pistons. Petrol and diesel car engines are both of this type.

In Turkish: içten yanmalı motor, ICE

How it is used

Often shortened to ICE, especially when comparing conventional cars with electric ones: ICE vehicles, ICE versions, the end of ICE sales. In everyday workshop talk people simply say engine.

Example sentences

  1. The platform was designed for both electric and internal combustion engine versions.

  2. A typical internal combustion engine works on a four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power and exhaust.

Common collocations

  • ICE vehicle
  • internal combustion engine car
  • phase out internal combustion engines
  • four-stroke engine
  • engineThe machine that burns fuel, usually petrol or diesel, to produce the power that moves a vehicle. It turns the energy of burning fuel into rotation of the crankshaft.
  • cylinderOne of the round chambers in an engine block where a piston moves up and down and the fuel is burned. Most car engines have three, four or six cylinders.
  • pistonA short metal cylinder that moves up and down inside an engine cylinder. The force of combustion pushes it down, and a connecting rod passes this movement to the crankshaft.
  • electric vehicleA vehicle driven only by one or more electric motors that take energy from a rechargeable battery. It has no fuel tank and produces no exhaust emissions while driving.
  • emissionsThe gases and particles a vehicle releases, mainly from the exhaust, such as CO2, NOx and soot. Their limits are set by regulations such as the Euro 6 standard.

More terms: Engine and Fuel Systems

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