English
thrust
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /θɹʌst/
Noun

thrust

  1. (fencing) An attack made by moving the sword parallel to its length and landing with the point.
    Pierre was a master swordsman, and could parry the thrusts of lesser men with barely a thought.
  2. A push, stab, or lunge forward (the act thereof.)
    The cutpurse tried to knock her satchel from her hands, but she avoided his thrust and yelled, "Thief!"
  3. The force generated by propulsion, as in a jet engine.
    Spacecraft are engineering marvels, designed to resist the thrust of liftoff, as well as the reverse pressure of the void.
  4. (figuratively) The primary effort; the goal.
    Ostensibly, the class was about public health in general, but the main thrust was really sex education.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

thrust (thrusts, present participle thrusting; past and past participle thrust)

  1. (intransitive) To make advance with force#Noun|force.
    We thrust at the enemy with our forces.
  2. (transitive) To force#Verb|force something upon someone.
    I asked her not to thrust the responsibility on me.
  3. (transitive) To push out or extend rapidly or powerfully.
    He thrust his arm into the icy stream and grabbed a wriggling fish, astounding the observers.
    • 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, chapter I, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384 ↗:
      Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
  4. (transitive) To push or drive with force; to shove.
    to thrust anything with the hand or foot, or with an instrument
    • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, [https://archive.org/stream/paradiseregaindp00milt_0#page/{}/mode/1up page 28]:
      Into a Dungeon thruſt, to work with Slaves?
  5. (intransitive) To enter by pushing; to squeeze in.
    • 1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero
      And thrust between my father and the god.
  6. To stab; to pierce; usually with through.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations

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