thruster

noun

thrust·​er ˈthrə-stər 

variants or less commonly thrustor

: one that thrusts

especially : an engine (such as a jet engine) that develops thrust by expelling a jet of fluid or a stream of particles

Examples of thruster in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Such a capability would be momentous, according to Mueller, who led the teams that developed SpaceX's workhorse Merlin engine and Draco thruster back in the day. —Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 June 2026

The research efforts are investigating whether NPPD can augment the traditional chemical spacecraft thrusters relying on combustion for thrust generation. —Aditya Jadhav, Interesting Engineering, 1 June 2026

The mission will test landing systems and study how spacecraft thrusters interact with the moon’s dusty surface — a major engineering challenge for future Artemis missions. —Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026

The people behind this fantastic new energy generator also brought us the wildly successful WTF thruster EM-drive that could supposedly directly convert electricity into a propulsive force. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for thruster

• bluster
• buster
• cluster
• duster
• juster
• luster
• lustre
• maister
• muster
• trustor
• adjuster
• baluster

Kids Definition

thruster

noun

thrust·​er ˈthrəs-tər 

: one that thrusts

especially : an engine that produces thrust by discharging a jet of fluid or a stream of particles