four-cycle

American  

[fawr-sahy-kuhl, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˌsaɪ kəl, ˈfoʊr- /

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to an internal-combustion engine in which a complete cycle in each cylinder requires four strokes, one to draw in air or an air-fuel mixture, one to compress it, one to ignite it and do work, and one to scavenge the cylinder.

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four-cycle British  

adjective

1. Equivalent term (in Britain and certain other countries): four-stroke.  relating to or designating an internal-combustion engine in which the piston makes four strokes for every explosion Compare two-stroke

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Etymology

Origin of four-cycle

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

The numbers in Table II. are not so well established as those in Table I. The four-cycle engines have been so far subjected to much more rigid and authoritative tests than those of the two-cycle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

The action of the four-cycle type may be easily understood if one refers to illustrations at Figs.

From Aviation Engines Design?Construction?Operation and Repair by Pag?, Victor Wilfred

It shows clearly all parts of a typical four-cylinder gasoline engine of the four-cycle type.

From Aviation Engines Design?Construction?Operation and Repair by Pag?, Victor Wilfred

The two-cycle engine is simpler in construction than the four-cycle, having no valves.

From The Story of Great Inventions by Burns, Elmer Ellsworth

It's a four-cycle engine, and a fast boat, too.

From Dick in the Everglades by Dimock, A. W.