tractor beam

noun

A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.

Opposite
pressor beamrepulsor beam
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nountractor beam (plural tractor beams)

plural tractor beams

  1. literatureA device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.

    We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!

    1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, spoken by Han Solo (Harrison Ford)
    2 more examples

    Through it Stevens saw with satisfaction that the Forlorn Hope was not being abandoned; in the grip of powerful tractor beams, every fragment of the wreckage was following close behind them in their flight through space.

    1931 August, E. E. “Doc” Smith, “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 5, page 549

    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.

    1945 June, Murray Leinster, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122

    Antonyms: pressor beam, repulsor beam

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.

Opposite
pressor beamrepulsor beam

Origin

Possibly a shortening of attractor beam; note however the broader meaning of tractor (“machinery that pulls something”). Coined by American science fiction author E. E. Smith in 1931 in his novel Spacehounds of IPC, first serialized in Amazing Stories.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 牽引波束 /牵引波束, 牽引光束 /牵引光束
  • 牽引波束 /牵引波束 (qiānyǐn bōshù)device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • 牽引光束 /牵引光束 (qiānyǐn guāngshù)device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
Finnish vetosäde
  • vetosädedevice-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
German Traktorstrahl, Fangstrahl
  • Traktorstrahldevice-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • Fangstrahldevice-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
Italian raggio traente
  • raggio traentedevice-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
Spanish rayo tractor
  • rayo tractordevice-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
Cite this entry
APA

tractor beam. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tractor%20beam

MLA

“tractor beam.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tractor%20beam. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tractor beam,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tractor%20beam.

Source: tractor beam on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.