Skip to content
ARCHIEENGLISH
LearnPlayWordsRanking
  • Learn
  • Play
  • Words
  • Ranking
  • Mine
← Vocabulary

propulsion

UK/pɹəˈpʌlʃən/US/pɹəˈpʌlʃən/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,852 of 15,258leans written

Propulsion is the driving of a craft forward by thrust. Jet propulsion, the propulsion system, nuclear propulsion.

It names the whole business of producing thrust rather than any one engine. Every method works the same way, by throwing something backwards so the craft goes forwards.

Armadillo Aerospace/Matthew C. Ross · CC BY 3.0 us

Definitions of propulsion

  1. 1nounpropulsionThe driving of a craft forward by engine thrust, as jets and rockets provide.C1

    “The propulsion system failed an hour after launch.”

propulsion is a driving force.

Where it comes from

Latin propulsio comes from propellere, to drive forward, from pro plus pellere, to drive.

  1. Latin

    propello — to drive forward, drive forth, drive away, drive out

  2. Medieval Latin

    propulsio

  3. English, today

    propulsion

Borrowed from Medieval Latin propulsio, from the past participle of Latin propello (“to drive forward, drive forth, drive away, drive out”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

propulsion in the wild

  • In-space propulsion is used in the vacuum of space after launch vehicle has lifted the spacecraft into outer space.

    Spacecraft propulsion

  • Hypothetical in-space propulsion technologies describe propulsion technologies that could meet future space science and exploration needs.

    Spacecraft propulsion

  • The two spacecraft to successfully use the technology for propulsion were IKAROS, launched in 2010, and LightSail-2, launched in 2019.

    Solar sail

  • NTRs have been proposed as a spacecraft propulsion technology, with the earliest ground tests conducted in 1955.

    Nuclear thermal rocket

  • Congress approved US$125 million in development funding for nuclear thermal propulsion rockets.

    Nuclear thermal rocket

1 / 4

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the propello family

propellerpropulsion

propulsion — used about once every 2,903 pages · #7,852 · point at the bar for the others