motor: Meaning and Definition of

mo•tor

1. a comparatively small and powerful engine, esp. an internal-combustion engine in an automobile, motorboat, or the like.
2. any self-powered vehicle.
3. a person or thing that imparts motion, esp. a contrivance, as a steam engine, that receives and modifies energy from some natural source in order to utilize it in driving machinery.
4. Also calleda machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, as an induction motor.
5. stocks or bonds in automobile companies.

1. pertaining to or operated by a motor.
2. of, for, by, or pertaining to motor vehicles: motor freight.
3. designed or for automobiles, their drivers, or their passengers: The hotel has a motor lobby in its parking garage for picking up and discharging passengers.
4. causing or producing motion.
5. conveying an impulse that results or tends to result in motion, as a nerve.
6. of, pertaining to, or involving muscular movement: a motor response; motor images.

1. to ride or travel in an automobile; drive: They motored up the coast.

1. to drive or transport by car: He motored his son to school.