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

These changes include new seals to plug helium leaks and thermal shunts and barriers to keep the spacecraft's thrusters from overheating. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 16 July 2025

Each Voyager has a set of primary thrusters that control movement in all directions as well as smaller thrusters for what is called roll control. —Nick Butler, FOXNews.com, 22 May 2025

According to Kim, Elytra will be equipped with the same systems used in the Blue Ghost landing — including the reaction control system thrusters that successfully performed Blue Ghost's final descent to the moon — for the Sinequone mission. —Karoline Leonard, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025

To avoid this, the engineers spent March of this year coaxing the secondary thrusters back to life. —David Szondy, New Atlas, 18 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1597, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for thruster

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

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