Four-cycle Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

four-cycle American [fawr-sahy-kuhl, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˌsaɪ kəl, ˈfoʊr- /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to an internal-combustion engine in which a complete cycle in each cylinder requires four strokes, one to draw in air or an air-fuel mixture, one to compress it, one to ignite it and do work, and one to scavenge the cylinder.

four-cycle British

adjective

1. Equivalent term (in Britain and certain other countries): four-stroke. relating to or designating an internal-combustion engine in which the piston makes four strokes for every explosion Compare two-stroke

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of four-cycle

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Gas-engines, of the four-cycle type, such as are industrially employed, will here be principally considered.

From Project Gutenberg

The Otto Cycle.—The term "four-cycle" motor, or Otto engine, has its origin in the manner in which the engine operates.

From Project Gutenberg

In the four-cycle engine the explosive gas is admitted to the cylinder through a port at the head end closed by a valve, while the exhaust gas is expelled through another port controlled in a similar manner.

From Project Gutenberg

The action of the four-cycle type may be easily understood if one refers to illustrations at Figs.

From Project Gutenberg

The two-cycle engine works on a different principle, as while only the combustion chamber end of the piston is employed to do useful work in the four-cycle engine, both upper and lower portions are called upon to perform the functions necessary to two-cycle engine operation.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.