Vocabulary Flashcards

Locomotives are the engines that make a train go forward. The powerful new locomotives brought the trains to their destinations in record time.

If a machine chugged along, it moved slowly and noisily. The steam trains chugged along the countryside.

Gadgets are small, specialized machines or electronic devices. A cell phone is a gadget.

A phonograph is a machine that plays recorded music or sound. Thomas Edison’s invention of the phonograph changed the course of music history.

If something sputtered, it worked in a rough or uneven way and made popping noises. The child’s remote-controlled car sputtered along before it came to a complete stop.

Something that is a flop is a complete failure.

The new Broadway show turned out to be a flop.

Something that is incandescent gives off a lot of light.

The incandescent light bulb filled the room with light.

A cylinder has circular ends and straight sides.

In an engine, a cylinder takes in gas to make other parts move.

A roll of toilet paper is shaped like a cylinder

Patents are legal documents.

If you get a patent for an invention, no one else is allowed to make or sell it.

Thomas Edison held over one thousand patents for his inventions.