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engineer

/ˈɛndʒəˌnɪər/
/ɛndʒɪˈnɪə/
IPA guide

Other forms: engineers; engineering; engineered

An engineer is someone who possesses the knowledge or expertise to create and implement plans or build machines. Even if you're not an engineer, when you engineer you make plans and solve problems.

An interesting part of the word engineer is the suffix -eer, which turns a word into one that means someone who does something indicated by the base it is affixed to — a mountaineer climbs mountains, an auctioneer presides at auctions, an engineer designs, coming from the Old French engin, which means "skill or cleverness." If you want to become an engineer, you'll have to study all kinds of mechanical systems, not just engines.

Definitions of engineer
  1. noun
    a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Gottlieb Daimler
    German engineer and automobile manufacturer who produced the first high-speed internal combustion engine (1834-1900)
    Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel
    German engineer (born in France) who invented the diesel engine (1858-1913)
    Bryan Donkin
    English engineer who developed a method of preserving food by sterilizing it with heat and sealing it inside a steel container--the first tin can (1768-1855)
    Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
    French engineer who constructed the Eiffel Tower (1832-1923)
    Richard Buckminster Fuller
    United States architect who invented the geodesic dome (1895-1983)
    George Washington Goethals
    United States army officer and engineer who supervised the construction of the Panama Canal (1858-1928)
    Hugo Junkers
    German aircraft engineer who designed the first all-metal airplane (1859-1935)
    Charles Franklin Kettering
    United States electrical engineer who made numerous automotive improvements (including the electric starter) (1876-1958)
    Leonardo da Vinci
    Italian painter and sculptor and engineer and scientist and architect; the most versatile genius of the Italian Renaissance (1452-1519)
    John Augustus Roebling
    United States engineer (born in Germany) who designed and began construction of the Brooklyn bridge (1806-1869)
    Claude Elwood Shannon
    United States electrical engineer who pioneered mathematical communication theory (1916-2001)
    Sir Charles William Siemens
    engineer who was a brother of Ernst Werner von Siemens and who moved to England (1823-1883)
    Elmer Ambrose Sperry
    United States engineer and inventor of the gyrocompass (1860-1930)
    Richard Trevithick
    English engineer who built the first railway locomotive (1771-1833)
    Thomas Augustus Watson
    United States telephone engineer who assisted Alexander Graham Bell in his experiments (1854-1934)
    James Watt
    Scottish engineer and inventor whose improvements in the steam engine led to its wide use in industry (1736-1819)
    types:
    aeronautical engineer
    an engineer concerned with the design and construction of aircraft
    aerospace engineer
    an engineer of aircraft and space vehicles
    army engineer, military engineer
    a member of the military who is trained in engineering and construction work
    automotive engineer
    an engineer concerned with the design and construction of automobiles
    civil engineer
    an engineer trained to design and construct and maintain public works (roads or bridges or harbors etc.)
    electrical engineer
    a person trained in practical applications of the theory of electricity
    marine engineer, naval engineer
    a naval officer responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ship's engines
    mechanical engineer
    a person trained to design and construct machines
    metallurgical engineer, metallurgist
    an engineer trained in the extraction and refining and alloying and fabrication of metals
    mining engineer
    an engineer concerned with the construction and operation of mines
    coder, computer programmer, programmer, software engineer
    a person who designs and writes and tests computer programs
    rocket engineer, rocket scientist
    an engineer who builds and tests rockets
    surveyor
    an engineer who determines the boundaries and elevations of land or structures
    cracker
    a programmer who cracks (gains unauthorized access to) computers, typically to do malicious things
    hacker
    a programmer for whom computing is its own reward; may enjoy the challenge of breaking into other computers but does no harm
    cyber-terrorist, cyberpunk, hacker
    a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism
    highway engineer
    a civil engineer who specializes in the design and construction of roads and highways
    lineman
    the surveyor who marks positions with a range pole
    locater, locator
    a person who fixes the boundaries of land claims
    sapper
    a military engineer who does sapping (digging trenches or undermining fortifications)
    sapper
    a military engineer who lays or detects and disarms mines
    tribologist
    a specialist in tribology
    type of:
  2. verb
    design as an engineer
    “He engineered the water supply project”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    design, plan
    make a design of; plan out in systematic, often graphic form
  3. verb
    plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
    see moresee less
    types:
    choreograph
    plan and oversee the development and details of
    type of:
    plan
    make plans for something
  4. noun
    the operator of a railway locomotive
    see moresee less
    examples:
    John Luther Jones
    United States railroad engineer who died trying to stop his train from crashing into another train; a friend wrote a famous ballad describing the incident (1864-1900)
    type of:
    manipulator, operator
    an agent that operates some apparatus or machine
Pronunciation
US
/ˈɛndʒəˌnɪər/
UK
/ɛndʒɪˈnɪə/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘engineer'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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