Engineering Word Search Printable

Press New puzzle for 16 engineering words, from Prototype to Truss, then print the sheet with its answer key.

Name Date

Engineering Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

HRRWHEELNPRAPDS

ITDTISITERATEEJ

FNSJECECUOWMLWL

NCIVSRMHETWEDGE

TORQUEOREOFCDQB

IOMFSWRWLTMHETR

SKGLCUUNEYRAMKI

CJTCXIZTSPSNLOD

IHNTOTOADESIGNG

QNRRTICSROHCPUE

DHIUCRITERIABEA

CTESRXVESNHLUCX

AMTSLWIECHTGKIL

EOTDMILLATOWERE

YBBPGTQRTESTCNS

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

DesignDESIGN
PrototypePROTOTYPE
TestTEST
IterateITERATE
CriteriaCRITERIA
CivilCIVIL
MechanicalMECHANICAL
WedgeWEDGE
ScrewSCREW
WheelWHEEL
AxleAXLE
SteelSTEEL
BridgeBRIDGE
TowerTOWER
TrussTRUSS
TorqueTORQUE

16 of 22 words from the Engineering Key Terms list.

Pick a bridge, a tower or a dam. Name two forces that act on it.

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Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

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Answer key: Engineering Word Search

HRRWHEELNPRAPDS

ITDTISITERATEEJ

FNSJECECUOWMLWL

NCIVSRMHETWEDGE

TORQUEOREOFCDQB

IOMFSWRWLTMHETR

SKGLCUUNEYRAMKI

CJTCXIZTSPSNLOD

IHNTOTOADESIGNG

QNRRTICSROHCPUE

DHIUCRITERIABEA

CTESRXVESNHLUCX

AMTSLWIECHTGKIL

EOTDMILLATOWERE

YBBPGTQRTESTCNS

DESIGN, PROTOTYPE, TEST, ITERATE, CRITERIA, CIVIL, MECHANICAL, WEDGE, SCREW, WHEEL, AXLE, STEEL, BRIDGE, TOWER, TRUSS, TORQUE

Next step Print the physics word search Make a word search from your own project's terms

All 137 words

The Design Process 29

Ask The first step: find out what the problem is.
Client The person a design is made for.
Communicate To explain a design with words, drawings and numbers.
Constraint A limit the designers must work within.
Criteria The things a solution must do to count as a success.
Data The measurements recorded each time a design is tried.
Deadline The date the work must be finished.
Define To say exactly what the problem is.
Design To work out a solution on paper before anything is built.
Draft A first drawing of an idea.
Drawing A picture with sizes marked on it.
Efficiency How much useful work you get for the energy put in.
Engineering The work of designing bridges, machines and other things that solve problems.
Iterate To repeat the steps, getting a little better each time.
Math The study of numbers and shapes.
Mockup A model of a design that does not have to work.
Optimize To make something work as well as it can.
Prototype An early build of a design, made so it can be tried and changed.
Reliability How well something keeps working over time.
Requirement Something a design must have.
Revise To change a plan after seeing what went wrong.
Scale What 1 to 100 on a plan tells you.
Science The study of how the natural world works.
Simulation A computer run of how a design would behave.
Specification An exact written description of what must be built.
STEM Short for four school subjects that go together.
Test To try something to see if it works.
Tolerance How far a part's size may be off and still fit.
Tradeoff Choosing a lighter part that costs more, or a cheaper one that weighs more.

Show all 137 words (108 more)

Kinds of Engineer 21

Aerospace The branch that designs aircraft and spacecraft.
Agricultural The branch that designs farm machines and systems.
Automotive The branch that designs cars and trucks.
Biomedical The branch that designs devices for hospitals and the body.
Chemical The branch that turns raw substances into useful products.
Civil The branch that builds roads, bridges, dams and water systems.
Electrical The branch that works with circuits and power.
Environmental The branch that protects air, water and soil.
Geotechnical The branch that studies the soil and rock under a structure.
Industrial The branch that makes factories run smoothly.
Inventor Someone who dreams up a device that never existed before.
Machinist A person who cuts metal parts to exact sizes.
Marine The branch that designs ships and structures at sea.
Mechanical The branch that designs machines and moving parts.
Mining The branch that gets minerals out of the ground.
Nuclear The branch that works with the energy inside atoms.
Petroleum The branch that works with oil and gas.
Software The branch that designs computer programs.
Structural The branch that makes sure buildings and bridges stand up.
Surveyor A person who maps a site with instruments before anything is built.
Technician A skilled worker who builds, tests and repairs what was designed.

Simple Machines and Parts 21

Axle The rod through the center of a turning part.
Bearing A part that lets a shaft turn smoothly.
Belt A loop that carries motion between two pulleys.
Brake A part that slows a machine down.
Chain Metal links that carry motion from one sprocket to another.
Clutch A part that connects and disconnects a drive.
Gearbox A case of toothed wheels that changes speed.
Hydraulics Using liquid under pressure to move parts.
Inclined plane A ramp. Its gentle slope lets a small push raise a heavy load.
Lever A simple machine: a stiff bar and a pivot.
Linkage Bars joined so that moving one moves the others.
Mechanism A set of parts that move together to do a job.
Pneumatics Using squeezed air to move parts.
Pulley A grooved wheel with a rope that lifts.
Pump A machine that pushes water or air through a pipe.
Ratchet A toothed part that lets motion go one way only.
Screw A ramp wrapped around a rod.
Shaft A long rod that carries turning motion.
Wedge A piece thick at one end and thin at the other that splits things apart.
Wheel A disk that spins on an axle.
Winch A drum that winds a cable to pull or lift.

Materials 26

Adhesive A substance that sticks things together.
Alloy A metal made by melting a metal together with other elements.
Aluminum A light, silvery metal.
Bronze Copper with tin melted into it, the stuff of old bells and statues.
Carbon fiber Very thin, very strong black threads set in resin.
Cement The gray powder that binds concrete.
Ceramic Baked clay or a similar hard, heatproof material.
Composite A material made by combining two different ones.
Concrete Cement, sand, gravel and water that set as hard as rock.
Conductor What the copper inside a wire is.
Copper The orange-brown metal inside most household wiring.
Density Why a steel ball is heavier than a cork ball of the same size.
Elastic Able to stretch and spring back.
Fiberglass Plastic strengthened with fine threads of melted sand.
Foam A light material full of tiny bubbles.
Graphite A soft, black form of carbon.
Insulator What the plastic coating on a wire is.
Metal Iron, copper and gold are all this kind of material.
Nylon A tough plastic that can be spun into thread.
Plastic A light material that can be molded into any shape.
Polymer A material made of long chains of repeating units.
Rigid Not flexible at all, like a brick.
Rubber A stretchy, bouncy material.
Steel Iron mixed with a little carbon, strong and hard.
Timber Sawn logs ready for framing a house.
Titanium A strong, silvery metal that is much lighter than steel.

Structures 21

Aqueduct A channel or bridge that carries water.
Arch A curved shape that carries weight out to its two ends.
Beam A long, straight piece that carries weight across a gap.
Brace A diagonal piece that stiffens a frame.
Bridge A deck on supports that takes traffic across a river or a valley.
Cable A thick rope of twisted steel wires.
Column An upright post that holds up weight.
Dam A wall that holds back a river.
Dome A rounded roof with no flat sides.
Keystone The last block set into a curved span, at its very peak.
Levee A bank built to keep a river from flooding.
Pier An upright support under a bridge.
Pylon A tall tower that holds up cables.
Span The distance between two supports.
Strut A bar that resists being squeezed.
Suspension The kind of bridge whose deck hangs from cables.
Tower A tall, narrow structure.
Triangle The three-sided shape that makes a truss stiff.
Truss A frame of beams joined into a rigid structure, often in triangles.
Tunnel A road or railway bored under a mountain or a river.
Viaduct A long bridge made of many short spans.

Forces at Work 19

Balance When the pushes and pulls on a thing are even.
Bend To curve under a weight.
Compression A pushing force that squeezes.
Energy What a battery, a spring or moving water can supply.
Fatigue Weakening of a metal part after it is bent back and forth many times.
Force What makes a thing start moving, stop or change shape.
Friction The rubbing force that slows moving parts.
Gravity The reason a dropped wrench falls and a bridge must carry its own weight.
Impact A sudden hit.
Power How fast work is done.
Shear A force that makes one part slide past another.
Squeeze To press in from both sides.
Stability How well a structure resists tipping or collapsing.
Stress The force inside a material, spread over its area.
Tension A pulling force that stretches.
Torque A turning force.
Torsion A twisting force.
Twist To turn one end while the other stays put.
Vibration A rapid tremble, like a struck bell or a running motor.

How this list was compiled: Engineering words chosen and defined for this site: the design process, kinds of engineer, simple machines and machine parts, materials, structures and forces, with a key terms list, an easy list and a hard list. What engineering is, the Latin origin of the word, the six classical simple machines, the truss, alloys and titanium were checked on 2026-10-03 in the English Wikipedia articles Engineering, Engineering design process, Simple machine, Truss, Alloy and Titanium, https://en.wikipedia.org/, license CC BY-SA 4.0. Every spelling was checked the same day in Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/. Meanings are our own wording in pupil language. Licence: own work

How it works

This engineering word search printable opens on key terms such as Prototype, Constraint, Lever and Truss. Six more lists cover the design process, kinds of engineer, simple machines, materials, structures and the forces inside them.

Read the full guide

A STEM word search, free printable by list

Under Start from a list, The Design Process has Criteria, Iterate and Tradeoff. Kinds of Engineer runs from Civil and Mechanical to Aerospace and Biomedical. Simple Machines and Parts holds the six classical simple machines, entered as Lever, Wheel, Axle, Pulley, Inclined plane, Wedge and Screw, plus parts such as Ratchet and Winch.

Materials, structures and forces

Materials has Alloy, Composite and Carbon fiber. Structures has Truss, Arch, Keystone and Viaduct, and Forces at Work has Tension, Compression, Torsion and Shear. Tick Show clues, not words, and "A pulling force that stretches" sends the class hunting for Tension.

Easy Engineering Words holds short words such as Beam, Arch, Dome and Wedge.

Questions and answers

What are the six simple machines?

The lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge and the screw. Renaissance scientists defined these six, and all are in Simple Machines and Parts. Source: Wikipedia, Simple machine, read 3 October 2026.

Which kinds of engineer are in the puzzle?

Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Aerospace, Biomedical, Software, Environmental, Industrial, Nuclear, Marine, Mining, Structural, Agricultural, Petroleum, Automotive and Geotechnical, plus Technician, Surveyor, Inventor and Machinist.

Does it cover all of STEM?

It covers engineering in depth and touches the rest: Science and Math are in The Design Process, and forces and materials are science topics. For more, print the science word search and the technology word search.

Where does the word engineering come from?

From the Latin ingenium, which means an inborn quality, especially mental power, and so a clever invention. Source: Wikipedia, Engineering, read 3 October 2026.

All 137 words

The Design Process 29

Kinds of Engineer 21

Simple Machines and Parts 21

Materials 26

Structures 21

Forces at Work 19

How it works

A STEM word search, free printable by list

Materials, structures and forces

Questions and answers

More tools