Definition of "traction engine" []

• A wheeled steam engine used to move heavy loads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. (noun)

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• "We looked at the faces of the men driving the waggons and the big traction engine which pulled along the train of heavy red and yellow vans which held the parts of the roundabouts and swing-boats, and at the faces of the women who sat beside them, and at the young boys and men dangling their legs over the dashboards and shafts, but you could tell nothing from their guarded gipsy eyes."