ENGINEER CORPS; CORPS OF ENGINEERS En`gi*neer" Corps. (a) In the United States army, the Corps of Engineers, a corps of officers and enlisted men consisting of one band and three battalions of engineers commanded by a brigadier general, whose title is Chief of Engineers. It has charge of the construction of fortifications for land and seacoast defense, the improvement of rivers and harbors, the construction of lighthouses, etc., and, in time of war, supervises the engineering operations of the armies in the field. (b) In the United States navy, a corps made up of the engineers, which was amalgamated with the line by act of March 3, 1899. It consisted of assistant and passed assistant engineers, ranking with ensigns and lieutenants, chief engineers, ranking from lieutenant to captain, and engineer in chief, ranking with commodore and having charge of the Bureau of Steam Engineering.
ENGINEERING
En`gi*neer"ing, n.
Defn: Originally, the art of managing engines; in its modern and extended sense, the art and science by which the mechanical properties of matter are made useful to man in structures and machines; the occupation and work of an engineer.
Note: In a comprehensive sense, engineering includes architecture as a mechanical art, in distinction from architecture as a fine art. It was formerly divided into military engineering, which is the art of designing and constructing offensive and defensive works, and civil engineering, in a broad sense, as relating to other kinds of public works, machinery, etc. — Civil engineering, in modern usage, is strictly the art of planning, laying out, and constructing fixed public works, such as railroads, highways, canals, aqueducts, water works, bridges, lighthouses, docks, embankments, breakwaters, dams, tunnels, etc. — Mechanical engineering relates to machinery, such as steam engines, machine tools, mill work, etc. — Mining engineering deals with the excavation and working of mines, and the extraction of metals from their ores, etc. Engineering is further divided into steam engineering, gas engineering, agricultural engineering, topographical engineering, electrical engineering, etc.
ENGINEMAN
En"gine*man, n.; pl. Enginemen (.
Defn: A man who manages, or waits on, an engine.
ENGINER
En"gin*er, n. Etym: [See Engineer.]
Defn: A contriver; an inventor; a contriver of engines. [Obs.] Shak.
ENGINERY
En"gine*ry, n.
1. The act or art of managing engines, or artillery. Milton.