Definition of "locomotive" []

• A self-propelled vehicle, usually electric or diesel-powered, for pulling or pushing freight or passenger cars on railroad tracks. (noun)
• A driving or pulling force; an impetus: "The US could no longer serve as the locomotive for the world economy” ( George Soros). (noun)
• Of, relating to, or involved in locomotion. (adjective)
• Serving to put into motion or propel forward: "It may be that the founding fathers overestimated the locomotive force of the collective and mutual self-interest” ( Ian Davidson). (adjective)
• Able to move independently from place to place. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There's no spunk to it, no life; it's very straightforward, almost to the point where I'm going to have to call it locomotive, which is an adjective I try not to use much when describing fiction."
• "KIEV, Ukraine — A train locomotive rammed through a stalled passenger bus on a railroad crossing in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, killing 43 people and injuring eight others as the bus was pushed 300 meters (yards) down the tracks."
• "Engine 279 is a Baldwin locomotive, built in Philadelphia, first brought into service in 1904, and now spends most of its time resting contentedly in the Cuautla museum, the museum that is housed in the oldest building ever used as a railway station anywhere in the world."