Library / English Dictionary

THRUSTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small rocket engine that provides the thrust needed to maneuver a spacecraft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("thruster" is a kind of...):

rocket; rocket engine (a jet engine containing its own propellant and driven by reaction propulsion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

One who intrudes or pushes himself forward

Synonyms:

pusher; thruster

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("thruster" is a kind of...):

interloper; intruder; trespasser (someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another without permission)

Derivation:

thrust (make a thrusting forward movement)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But because Voyager 1's last planetary encounter was Saturn, the Voyager team hadn't needed to use the TCM thrusters since November 8, 1980.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

The spacecraft, which has been flying for 40 years, relies on small devices called thrusters to orient itself so it can communicate with Earth.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

These thrusters fire in tiny pulses, or "puffs," lasting mere milliseconds, to subtly rotate the spacecraft so that its antenna points at our planet.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

To accurately fly by and point the spacecraft's instruments at a smorgasbord of targets, engineers used trajectory correction maneuver, or TCM, thrusters that are identical in size and functionality to the attitude control thrusters, and are located on the back side of the spacecraft.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)