The invention relates to a two-cycle engine for a drive engine in a portable, manually operated tool. The combustion chamber formed in a cylinder is delimited by a piston that moves up and down, whereby the piston, by means of a connecting rod, drives a crankshaft rotatably mounted in a crankcase. The combustion chamber has an outlet for removing waste gases, and provided for supplying a fuel/air mixture prepared by a mixture preparation device, and combustion air, are gas-supplying channels that open into the combustion chamber. In order to reduce scavenging losses, it is provided that for the entire duration of the gas exchange exclusively air flows in the area near the outlet and exclusively fuel/air mixture flows out of the crankcase in the area further away from the outlet.