engineer
noun
en·gi·neer
| \ ˌen-jə-ˈnir
\
\
Definition of engineer
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a member of a military group devoted to engineering work
3a
: a designer or builder of engines
b
: a person who is trained in or follows as a profession a branch of engineering
c
: a person who carries through an enterprise by skillful or artful contrivance
4
: a person who runs or supervises an engine or an apparatus
engineer
verb
engineered;
engineering;
engineers
Definition of engineer (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: to lay out, construct, or manage as an engineer
engineer a bridge
2a
: to contrive or plan out usually with more or less subtle skill and craft
engineer a business deal
b
: to guide the course of
engineer a rally
3
: to modify or produce by genetic engineering
corn engineered to resist crop pests
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Synonyms for engineer
Synonyms: Noun
Synonyms: Verb
contrive, finagle, finesse, frame, machinate, maneuver, manipulate, mastermind, negotiate, wangle
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Examples of engineer in a Sentence
Noun
Design engineers are working on ways to make the cars run more efficiently. The engineer stopped the train. Army engineers were called in to construct the canal.Verb
The rebels engineered a successful attack. the mayor engineered an agreement to have a major league team play in our city
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
On Top of Old Sparky,' by Tom the Butcher The engineer was sentenced to fry He’d crashed his train: Three souls did die. — Washington Post, "Gene Weingarten: Who is the better poet? Gene and his editor face off.," 1 Sep. 2019 As engineers work to make energy systems more efficient and affordable, some are finding inspiration in nature. Organisms and natural systems have had some 3.8 billion years to evolve. — Shweta Narayan, Smithsonian, "How Engineers of New Energy Technology Are Taking Cues From Nature," 31 Aug. 2019 The government agency said the two halves of the telescope were joined earlier this week in Redondo Beach, Calif., where engineers used a crane to put the telescope together. — Fox News, "NASA's long-delayed James Webb telescope is finally assembled for the first time," 30 Aug. 2019 With a little help from computer simulations and fluid dynamics, engineers have finally optimized the craft of crepe making. — Stephen Ornes, Scientific American, "Perfect Crepes, by Way of Physics," 29 Aug. 2019 The engineer was also involved with two separate companies who competed with Google in self-driving technology around the time of his departure. — Joelle Goldstein, PEOPLE.com, "Ex-Google Engineer Charged with Stealing Trade Secrets for Self-Driving Cars," 28 Aug. 2019 Protests from tech employees, many of them highly paid engineers, have sometimes boiled over into dramatic actions like the global walkout and street demonstrations by Google employees last November. — Marcy Gordon, USA TODAY, "How should big tech police content while avoiding bias?," 28 Aug. 2019 Jay Galloway, Boeing’s San Antonio site leader, said Boeing will need a variety of workers — from engineers to mechanics — and will be looking for employees in San Antonio as well as conducting a national search. — Randy Diamond, ExpressNews.com, "Boeing to add 500 San Antonio jobs to rehab Hornet fighter," 27 Aug. 2019 Dutifully executing the abort procedure, the Soyuz headed for an orbit that would permit a second rendezvous attempt within 24 hours, but Russian engineers quickly ruled that out. — William Harwood, CBS News, "Unpiloted Soyuz spacecraft aborts space station docking," 24 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Her company engineered and produces a device that generates electric power when dropped into any moving water, sort of a portable Hoover Dam. — Michael Schuman, New York Times, "Blocked in Business, South Korean Women Start Their Own," 30 Aug. 2019 Gougères contain chicken mousse engineered to gush; a cylinder of pastry encases near-liquid tomato tartare, a one-bite burst of sunshine. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: At Bon Temps in Downtown L.A., the brilliant desserts are only the beginning," 29 Aug. 2019 All the processes involved are engineered to be efficient. — The Economist, "New ways to make vertical farming stack up," 29 Aug. 2019 The plot is ingeniously engineered, but the narrative is like a low-res image. — Kerry Lengel, Detroit Free Press, "Time-travel thriller ‘Don’t Let Go’ works — sort of," 29 Aug. 2019 The plot is ingeniously engineered, but the narrative is like a low-res image. — Kerry Lengel, azcentral, "David Oyelowo's time-travel thriller 'Don't Let Go' works — kinda," 28 Aug. 2019 Electrical engineering students at Auburn kicked themselves for not thinking of it first. — Leslie Anne Tarabella, al, "If you give a co-ed a chandelier," 13 Aug. 2019 The Cullinan was engineered for desert travel, including reinforced drive and prop shafts. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV: a royal rite of passage," 2 Aug. 2019 Juul has defended the design of its products, saying they were engineered with adult smokers in mind. — Author: Moriah Balingit, Anchorage Daily News, "E-cigarettes spawn a form of teen addiction that worries doctors, parents and schools," 26 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'engineer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for engineer
engineer
noun
English Language Learners Definition of engineer
(Entry 1 of 2)
: a person who has scientific training and who designs and builds complicated products, machines, systems, or structures : a person who specializes in a branch of engineering
: a person who runs or is in charge of an engine in an airplane, a ship, etc.
US
: a person who runs a train