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

But Starliner suffered helium leaks and thruster failures on its propulsion system that ultimately led to NASA choosing to keep Williams and Wilmore aboard the space station and send Starliner home without them. —Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 Jan. 2026

This thruster uses this power to ionize a propellant (such as xenon), which is then funneled through nozzles to provide consistent thrust. —Matthew S Williams, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026

Then the Orion capsule will fire up its main thruster and shoot off towards the Moon on its 240,000-mile, four-day journey. —The Week, TheWeek, 7 Jan. 2026

That week-plus stretched into nine months due to thruster problems aboard Starliner that NASA concluded made the ship unsafe for crews. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 2 Jan. 2026

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