English

Alternative forms

• presser beam

Noun

pressor beam ‎(plural pressor beams)

1. (science fiction) Device used to repel other objects.
   • 1931 September, Smith, E. E. "Doc", “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, Leinster, Murray, “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, Anderson, Poul, “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 examples of usage of this term, see Citations:pressor beam.

Synonyms

• repulsor beam

Antonyms

• tractor beam

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530567-8
• pressor beam n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project