From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinternal combustion engineinˌternal comˈbustion ˌengine noun [countable] TTTCan engine that produces power by burning petrol, used in most cars
Examples from the Corpus
internal combustion engine• A model car doesn't have to contain all the elements of an internal combustion engine in order to work as a toy!• The computer chip was a huge breakthrough, greater than the lightbulb, telephone, or internal combustion engine.• A combination of mass production and the internal combustion engine was responsible for the Allied victory.• Secondly, new fuels for the internal combustion engine which do not involve the depletion of vital and limited energy resources.• Both have been accelerated since the war by the widespread application of the internal combustion engine.• First and most radical, a new means of propulsion other than the internal combustion engine might be considered.• The internal combustion engine created a new mobility, for people and goods alike. 