A two-stroke engine is a combustion engine that completes the thermodynamic cycle in two movements of the piston compared to twice that number for a four-stroke engine. This increased efficiency is accomplished by using the beginning of the compression stroke and the end of the combustion stroke to perform simultaneously the intake and exhaust (or scavenging) functions. In this way two-stroke engines often provide strikingly high specific power. Gasoline (spark ignition) versions are particularly useful in lightweight (portable) applications such as chainsaws and the concept is also used in diesel compression ignition engines in large and non-weight sensitive applications such as ships and locomotives. Invention of the two-stroke cycle is attributed to Scottish engineer Dugald Clerk who in 1881 patented his design, his engine having a separate charging cylinder. The crankcase-scavenged engine, employing the area below the piston as a charging pump, is generally credited to Englishman Joseph Day (and Frederick Cock for the piston-controlled inlet port).

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