English Explanatory Dictionary

tractor beam

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.

Word forms

tractor beam tractor beams

Etymology

Possibly a shortening of attractor beam; note however the broader meaning of tractor (“machinery that pulls something”). Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

Antonyms

pressor beam repulsor beam
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