"motive power" meaning in English

See motive power in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: motive powers [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|-|s}} motive power (usually uncountable, plural motive powers)
  1. (sometimes figurative) The power that enables something to move. Tags: figuratively, sometimes, uncountable, usually Categories (topical): Rail transportation Synonyms: locomotion, motivity Derived forms: motive power depot, MPD (english: motive power depot) Translations (power that enables something to move): 動力 (Chinese Mandarin), 动力 (dònglì) (Chinese Mandarin), 原動力 (Chinese Mandarin), 原动力 (yuándònglì) (Chinese Mandarin), käyttövoima (Finnish), force motrice [feminine] (French), forza motrice [feminine] (Italian), fuerza motriz [feminine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-motive_power-en-noun-sdgTXzS2 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Disambiguation of 'power that enables something to move': 97 3
  2. (rail transport, collectively) The locomotives that operate on a railway. Tags: collective, uncountable, usually Categories (topical): Rail transportation
    Sense id: en-motive_power-en-noun--KC27NXq Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 49 51 Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for motive power meaning in English (3.9kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "motive powers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "motive power (usually uncountable, plural motive powers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rail transportation",
          "orig": "en:Rail transportation",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "word": "motive power depot"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "english": "motive power depot",
          "word": "MPD"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Using electricity as motive power for railroads will do away with fuel trains, tenders, coal handling, water, and all that.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The power that enables something to move."
      ],
      "id": "en-motive_power-en-noun-sdgTXzS2",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes figurative) The power that enables something to move."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "85 15",
          "word": "locomotion"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 15",
          "word": "motivity"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "sometimes",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "word": "動力"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "dònglì",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "word": "动力"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "word": "原動力"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yuándònglì",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "word": "原动力"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "word": "käyttövoima"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "force motrice"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "forza motrice"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "power that enables something to move",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "fuerza motriz"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rail transportation",
          "orig": "en:Rail transportation",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 51",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, pages 12–13",
          "text": "While at first in the U.S.A. it may have been a matter of high-pressure salesmanship—and it has undoubtely been the irresistible enterprise of the General Motors Corporation, through its Electro-Motive subsidiary, that has set in motion this amazingly rapid transformation of American railway motive power, and has caused all the steam locomotive builders in the U.S.A. to follow suit or be left out in the cold—it seems now beyond dispute that, so far as the U.S.A. is concerned, the economics of the power question can be solved no other way.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The locomotives that operate on a railway."
      ],
      "id": "en-motive_power-en-noun--KC27NXq",
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ],
        [
          "locomotive",
          "locomotive"
        ],
        [
          "railway",
          "railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rail transport, collectively) The locomotives that operate on a railway."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "collective",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "motive power"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "motive power depot"
    },
    {
      "english": "motive power depot",
      "word": "MPD"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "motive powers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "motive power (usually uncountable, plural motive powers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Rail transportation"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Using electricity as motive power for railroads will do away with fuel trains, tenders, coal handling, water, and all that.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The power that enables something to move."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(sometimes figurative) The power that enables something to move."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "sometimes",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English collective nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Rail transportation"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1950 January, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, pages 12–13",
          "text": "While at first in the U.S.A. it may have been a matter of high-pressure salesmanship—and it has undoubtely been the irresistible enterprise of the General Motors Corporation, through its Electro-Motive subsidiary, that has set in motion this amazingly rapid transformation of American railway motive power, and has caused all the steam locomotive builders in the U.S.A. to follow suit or be left out in the cold—it seems now beyond dispute that, so far as the U.S.A. is concerned, the economics of the power question can be solved no other way.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The locomotives that operate on a railway."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ],
        [
          "locomotive",
          "locomotive"
        ],
        [
          "railway",
          "railway"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rail transport, collectively) The locomotives that operate on a railway."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "collective",
        "uncountable",
        "usually"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "locomotion"
    },
    {
      "word": "motivity"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "word": "動力"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "dònglì",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "word": "动力"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "word": "原動力"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yuándònglì",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "word": "原动力"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "word": "käyttövoima"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "force motrice"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "forza motrice"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "power that enables something to move",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "fuerza motriz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "motive power"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.