Library / English Dictionary

THRUST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of applying force to propel something

Example:

after reaching the desired velocity the drive is cut off

Synonyms:

drive; driving force; thrust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("thrust" is a kind of...):

actuation; propulsion (the act of propelling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thrust"):

firewall ((colloquial) the application of maximum thrust)

impetus; impulse; impulsion (the act of applying force suddenly)

Derivation:

thrust (make a thrusting forward movement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow)

Example:

he made a thrusting motion with his fist

Synonyms:

jab; jabbing; poke; poking; thrust; thrusting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("thrust" is a kind of...):

gesture (motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling)

Derivation:

thrust (place or put with great energy)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A strong blow with a knife or other sharp pointed instrument

Example:

one strong stab to the heart killed him

Synonyms:

knife thrust; stab; thrust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("thrust" is a kind of...):

blow (a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "thrust"):

lunge; passado; straight thrust ((fencing) an attacking thrust made with one foot forward and the back leg straight and with the sword arm outstretched forward)

remise ((fencing) a second thrust made on the same lunge (as when your opponent fails to riposte))

Derivation:

thrust (penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument)

thrust (make a thrusting forward movement)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Verbal criticism

Example:

he enlivened his editorials with barbed thrusts at politicians

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("thrust" is a kind of...):

criticism; unfavorable judgment (disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The force used in pushing

Example:

the thrust of the jet engines

Synonyms:

push; thrust

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("thrust" is a kind of...):

force ((physics) the influence that produces a change in a physical quantity)

Derivation:

thrust (press or force)

thrust (push upward)

thrust (force (molten rock) into pre-existing rock)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impose urgently, importunately, or inexorably

Example:

She forced her diet fads on him

Synonyms:

force; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

compel; obligate; oblige (force somebody to do something)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thrust"):

stick; sting (saddle with something disagreeable or disadvantageous)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something on somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Penetrate or cut through with a sharp instrument

Synonyms:

pierce; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

penetrate; perforate (pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thrust"):

lance (pierce with a lance, as in a knights' fight)

gore (wound by piercing with a sharp or penetrating object or instrument)

horn; tusk (stab or pierce with a horn or tusk)

empale; impale; spike; transfix (pierce with a sharp stake or point)

center punch (make a small hole in something as a guide for a drill)

peg (pierce with a wooden pin or knock or thrust a wooden pin into)

stick (pierce with a thrust using a pointed instrument)

stick (pierce or penetrate or puncture with something pointed)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

thrust (a strong blow with a knife or other sharp pointed instrument)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Place or put with great energy

Example:

thrust the money in the hands of the beggar

Synonyms:

throw; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thrust"):

pop (put or thrust suddenly and forcefully)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

thrust (a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Push forcefully

Example:

He thrust his chin forward

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thrust"):

dig; jab; poke; prod; stab (poke or thrust abruptly)

jab; stab (stab or pierce)

shoulder (push with the shoulders)

boost (push or shove upward, as if from below or behind)

drive; force; ram (force into or from an action or state, either physically or metaphorically)

pound; ram; ram down (strike or drive against with a heavy impact)

punch (drive forcibly as if by a punch)

dig (thrust down or into)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Also:

thrust ahead (push one's way)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make a thrusting forward movement

Synonyms:

hurl; hurtle; lunge; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "thrust"):

dart (move with sudden speed)

riposte (make a return thrust)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

thrust (the act of applying force to propel something)

thrust (a strong blow with a knife or other sharp pointed instrument)

thruster (one who intrudes or pushes himself forward)

thrusting (a sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow))

Sense 6

Meaning:

Press or force

Example:

She thrust the letter into his hand

Synonyms:

shove; squeeze; stuff; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They thrust the books into the box

Derivation:

thrust (the force used in pushing)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Push upward

Example:

The front of the trains that had collided head-on thrust up into the air

Synonyms:

push up; thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "thrust" is one way to...):

jut; jut out; project; protrude; stick out (extend out or project in space)

Verb group:

thrust (force (molten rock) into pre-existing rock)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

thrust (the force used in pushing)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Force (molten rock) into pre-existing rock

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Verb group:

push up; thrust (push upward)

Domain category:

geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

thrust (the force used in pushing)

Credits

 Context examples: 

As the sounds of the ship thrusting herself through the waves were hurled back upon us by the fog, so were one’s thoughts.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Your gentle courtesy may perhaps grant me an exchange of thrusts.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lucas quickly turned back the drugget, thrust the document into some hiding-place there, and covered it over.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes soothed him with a few words and thrust him into an armchair.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The rogues looked at each other but swallowed the home-thrust in silence.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Whereupon I again thrust up my stick and handkerchief, calling for help till I was almost hoarse.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

“The door is big enough; just look, I can get in myself!” and she crept up and thrust her head into the oven.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Hear him not; call on the names of William, Justine, Clerval, Elizabeth, my father, and of the wretched Victor, and thrust your sword into his heart.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The scarps formed as Mercury’s interior cooled; the planet’s shrinking was accommodated by the crustal rocks being pushed together, thrusting them upward along fault lines.

(‘Great Valley’ Found on Mercury, NASA)

From below came the fatal roaring where the wild current went wilder and was rent in shreds and spray by the rocks which thrust through like the teeth of an enormous comb.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)