Words / C1

lohk-uh-MOHT-iv/ˌləʊkəˈməʊtɪv/

A locomotive is a railway engine that pulls a train: a steam locomotive, locomotive power (also an adjective: locomotive force). Engine and train are everyday; a train is the whole set of carriages plus engine. Loco is informal/slang. Do not call a timetable a locomotive.

Meaning

A railway engine that pulls a train.

Examples

• “A locomotive without carriages is still not a timetable.”
• “Engine is everyday. The train includes carriages. Locomotion is the act of moving. A logo of a train is branding. Power that moves rolling stock is the technical sense.”

Good to know

A railway engine. Everyday: engine. Whole vehicle: train. Noun/adj.: locomotive power. A picture of a train is not a timetable.

Near in meaning

engine

New