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thrust

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A push, stab, or lunge forward.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

thruhst
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈθɹʌst

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A push, stab, or lunge forward (the act thereof.)

  2. The force generated by propulsion, as in a jet engine.

  3. figuratively

    The primary effort; the goal.

verb

  1. Press or force

  2. intransitive

    To make advance with force.

  3. Push forcefully

  4. Push upward

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

  5. transitive

    To push or drive with force; to shove.

  6. transitive

    To push out or extend rapidly or powerfully.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A push, stab, or lunge forward (the act thereof.)

Used this way, thrust is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • push , a specialist term, precise but narrower

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use thrust

  • “He enlivened his editorials with barbed thrusts at politicians.”noun
  • “The front of the trains that had collided head-on thrust up into the air.”verb
  • “He thrust his chin forward.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

main thrustmajor thrust

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • thrustingnounInflected form

    A sharp hand gesture (resembling a blow).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • thrust bearingnounCompound term

    A bearing designed to take thrusts parallel to the axis of revolution.

  • thrust faultnounCompound term

    A geological fault in which the upper side appears to have been pushed upward by compression.

  • thrust outverbCompound term

    Push to thrust outward.

  • thrust stagenounCompound term

    A theater stage that extends out into the audience's part of a theater and has seats on three sides.

  • thrust aheadverbCompound term

    Push one's way.

  • straight thrustnounCompound term

    An attacking thrust made with one foot forward and the back leg straight and with the sword arm outstretched forward.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: push or stab

drivepushTechnicalshovelunge

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.