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

Rocket Lab on Tuesday added a high-performance, Hall-effect satellite thruster to its growing catalog of space technologies and flight services, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 17 Apr. 2026

The 1,430-pound (650 kilograms) ISSA-J1 spacecraft will use a suite of thrusters and imaging systems to conduct rendezvous and proximity operations, enabling detailed visual inspections of target satellites and helping determine the causes of their failures. —Andrew Jones, Space.com, 16 Apr. 2026

The spacecraft fired its thrusters to fine-tune its entry path to the splashdown location. —Miles Doran, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2026

Today, satellites are limited by attitude control systems, which mainly use small thrusters to keep them pointing the right way. —Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 9 Apr. 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