Meaning & use

thrust

verb·Academic

To push something suddenly and forcefully in a particular direction.

See it in a sentence

She thrust the umbrella into his hands and ran back inside.

The soldier thrust his spear forward to fend off the attack.

A note on using this word

Thrust is irregular: its past tense and past participle are also thrust, not thrusted.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

pullwithdraw

Another way to use it

2. noun

The forward-driving force produced by an engine or similar mechanism.

The rocket's engines generate enough thrust to escape Earth's gravity.

3. noun

The central point or main idea of an argument, speech, or plan.

The thrust of her argument was that the policy would hurt small businesses.

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