SINCE 1828
impactor
noun
im·pac·tor
| \ im-ˈpak-tər
\
\
variants:
or impacter
Definition of impactor
1
: a machine (such as a steam or air hammer or a pile driver) or part that operates by striking blows
2
: meteorite
Examples of impactor in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The team found that as much as 30 percent of the water present in the initial impactors was transferred to the post-impact debris when the collisions occurred at speeds and angles that are analogous to asteroids slamming into the planet. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "NASA's High-Speed Cannon Used to Explore the Origins of Water on Earth," 26 Apr. 2018 With that in mind, the researchers calculated an estimate of the size of the impactor. — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, "Huge, previously unknown impact crater found beneath Greenland’s ice," 18 Nov. 2018 So even though the impactor loses its water, some of it is recaptured as the melt rapidly quenches. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "NASA's High-Speed Cannon Used to Explore the Origins of Water on Earth," 26 Apr. 2018 This goes against previous studies that suggested a much larger impactor. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "New Study Explains the Solar System Smash-Up That Created Mars' Two Moons," 18 Apr. 2018 In short-warning scenarios, kinetic impactors like DART would not be enough. — NBC News, "Space scientists have big plans to avert an asteroid apocalypse," 6 Apr. 2018 Given enough warning, less complicated options like a kinetic impactor might be preferable. — Popular Mechanics, "The Asteroid Hunters," 11 Nov. 2015 The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago measured about 10 kilometers wide, but any impactor larger than 1 kilometer wide could trigger catastrophic climate change. — Eoin O'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "Buzzworthy space rocks: Asteroid hunters prep for near miss," 10 Oct. 2017 Scientists are already working on ways to deflect potential impactors. — Eoin O'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "Buzzworthy space rocks: Asteroid hunters prep for near miss," 10 Oct. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'impactor.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on impactor
What made you want to look up impactor? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
What did you just call me?! A Quiz
-
- If a member of the audience describes your speech as bombastic, does that person mean it is:
Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share impactor
Resources for impactor