thruster

[ thruhs-ter ]

/ ˈθrʌs tər /

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noun

a person or thing that thrusts.

Fox Hunting. a rider who keeps in the front of the field.

Aerospace. a small rocket attached to a spacecraft and used to control its attitude or translational motion.

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Origin of thruster

First recorded in 1590–1600; thrust + -er¹

Words nearby thruster

thruppence, thrush, thrust, thrust augmentation, thrust bearing, thruster, thrust fault, thrusting, thrust stage, thrutch, thruway

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use thruster in a sentence

After Russia’s new 23-ton multipurpose Nauka module docked with the ISS, it began firing its thrusters unexpectedly and without command, shifting the ISS out of its proper and normal position in orbit.
Boeing’s second Starliner mission to the ISS is a make-or-break moment|Neel V. Patel|July 31, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The module unexpectedly fired its thrusters, which shifted the multi-ton station 45 degrees outside its typical orientation.
Russian thruster misfire led to a ‘tug of war’ at the International Space Station as crew sought to regain control|Dalvin Brown|July 30, 2021|Washington Post
If you want your satellite to go a different orbit or trajectory, you need to install expensive thrusters that can take it there.
Startup Phantom Space wants to be the Henry Ford of rockets|Neel V. Patel|May 26, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Ropes don’t need to be recharged, nor do they need software, but then again, algorithms and thrusters can perform tricks that a rope, or tagline, cannot.
Getting rescued by helicopter has risks. This gadget could make it safer.|Rob Verger|January 21, 2021|Popular-Science

“A hundred times per second, we’re computing what the best action is for these thrusters to take to stop the spin, or swing, or any type of motion,” says Derek Sikora, the CTO at Vita Inclinata.
Getting rescued by helicopter has risks. This gadget could make it safer.|Rob Verger|January 21, 2021|Popular-Science

British Dictionary definitions for thruster

thruster

/ (ˈθrʌstə) /

noun

a person or thing that thrusts

Also called: vernier rocket a small rocket engine, esp one used to correct the altitude or course of a spacecraft

an auxiliary propeller on a ship, capable of acting athwartships

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012