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carburetor

/ˌkɑrbəˈreɪdər/
/ˈkɑbəreɪtə/
IPA guide

Other forms: carburetors

A carburetor is the part of a car's engine that combines gas vapors and air in a way that keeps things running. Many vehicles, including some small airplanes, have carburetors.

Newer cars, which tend to have fuel injected engines, no longer have carburetors, but there are still plenty of cars and trucks on the road that do. An engine with a carburetor is called an internal combustion engine, and it relies on the carburetor to mix fuel and air in the right proportion. The word itself comes from the now-obsolete carburet, "combine or charge with a hydrocarbon."

Definitions of carburetor
  1. noun
    mixes air with gasoline vapor prior to explosion
    synonyms: carburettor
    see moresee less
    type of:
    mechanical device
    mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles
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