pressor beam

English

Alternative forms

• presser beam

Etymology

press +‎ -or and beam. Analogous to "presser beam", a beam that presses, as the inverse of tractor beam. Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

Noun

pressor beam (plural pressor beams)

1. (science fiction) A device that generates a beam that repels other objects; or the beam itself.
   • 1931 September, E. E. "Doc" Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 6, page 560:

     Onward and upward flashed the gigantic duplex cone, its entire whirling mass laced and latticed together—into one mammoth unit by green tractor beams and red pressors.

   • 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.

   • 1956 September, Poul Anderson, “Margin of Profit”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 58, number 1, page 58:

     A pressor beam lashed out, and invisible hammer blow of repulsion, five times the strength of the enemy tractor.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:pressor beam.

Synonyms

• repulsor beam

Antonyms

• tractor beam

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007), “pressor beam”, in Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.
• Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “pressor beam n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.