stabilizer

American  

[stey-buh-lahy-zer] / ˈsteɪ bəˌlaɪ zər /

noun

stabilizers plural

1. a person or thing that stabilizes.

2. Aeronautics. a device for stabilizing an aircraft, as the fixed, horizontal tail surface on an airplane.

3. Nautical.

   1. a mechanical device for counteracting the roll of a vessel, consisting of a pair of retractable fins so pivoted as to oppose a downward force with an upward one, and vice versa.

   2. a gyrostabilizer.

4. any of various substances added to foods, chemical compounds, etc., to prevent deterioration, the breaking down of an emulsion, or the loss of desirable properties.

5. any compound that, when included with an explosive, decreases the ability of the latter to decompose spontaneously.

6. a substance, as beeswax or aluminum stearate, added to a fast-drying oil paint to improve the dispersion of pigment.

7. a comparatively large shock absorber for motor vehicles.

8. Military.

   1. any of various devices or systems that keep a gun mounted on a moving ship, tank, or plane automatically aimed at its target.

   2. any of various mechanical devices, such as fins, or electronic systems that keep a shell, bomb, rocket, etc., aligned with its target.

9. Navy. any of various devices or systems used to keep a submarine or a torpedo at the proper depth or in the proper position.

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stabilizer British  

/ ˈsteɪbɪˌlaɪzə /

noun

1. any device for stabilizing an aircraft See also horizontal stabilizer vertical stabilizer

2. a substance added to something to maintain it in a stable or unchanging state, such as an additive to food to preserve its texture during distribution and storage

3. nautical

   1. a system of one or more pairs of fins projecting from the hull of a ship and controllable to counteract roll

   2. See gyrostabilizer

4. either of a pair of brackets supporting a small wheel that can be fitted to the back wheel of a bicycle to help an inexperienced cyclist to maintain balance

5. an electronic device for producing a direct current supply of constant voltage

6. economics a measure, such as progressive taxation, interest-rate control, or unemployment benefit, used to restrict swings in prices, employment, production, etc, in a free economy

7. a person or thing that stabilizes

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• stabilizers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of stabilizer

First recorded in 1905–10; stabilize + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stabilizer stabilizers

Its importance as a thickener and stabilizer — with no real substitute — should make it a boon for Sudan, once responsible for up to 80% of the world’s supply.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

China’s export growth accelerated in April after a brief slowdown in March, reinforcing trade’s role as a key stabilizer of the economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

One version of valproate, marketed as Divalproex, is the second most common mood stabilizer used after diagnosis in the U.S.

From Salon ● Sep. 10, 2024

He says he searched for a year, on beaches from Myanmar to the Maldives, before finding his first piece, from the rear stabilizer of the plane, on a sandbar in Mozambique.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2024

“Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter.”

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

Often, they’re processed with emulsifiers, flavor enhancers, stabilizers and other additives.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 23, 2026

Error detection relies on repeated measurements of stabilizers, which work alongside the data qubits to form the logical qubit.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 6, 2026

As China policymakers search for stabilizers to offset property-sector weakness and sluggish high-tier consumption, the lower-tier growth story offers a different angle: not a dramatic rebound, but a slower-burning simmer that may provide structural ballast.

From Barron's ● Nov. 15, 2025

Reacting to this concentration of wealth and power, a progressive movement emerged, advocating for new public “institutional” stabilizers like labor rights, women's suffrage, estate taxation, social security, antitrust legislation and effective regulation.

From Salon ● Dec. 31, 2024

Nailer’s eyes swept over the broken clipper’s upper decks, the pontoons and stabilizers and the cracked remains of the fixed-wing sails, all of it white, almost blazingly white in the sun.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Related Words

• mediator
• referee