tractor beam

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word tractor beam. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word tractor beam, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say tractor beam in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word tractor beam you have here. The definition of the word tractor beam will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition oftractor beam, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

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.

Noun

tractor beam (plural tractor beams)

  1. (science fiction) A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.
    Antonyms: pressor beam, repulsor beam
    • 1931 August, E. E. “Doc” Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories‎, volume 6, number 5, page 549:
      Through it Stevens saw with satisfaction that the Forlorn Hope was not being abandoned; in the grip of powerful tractor beams, every fragment of the wreckage was following close behind them in their flight through space.
    • 1945 June, Murray Leinster, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122:
      By the way they're braced, there are tractor beams and pressor beams and—there are vacuum tubes that have grids but apparently work with cold cathodes.
    • 1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, spoken by Han Solo (Harrison Ford):
      We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!

Translations

References

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia