Thrust Meaning
/θɹʌst/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn attack made by moving the sword parallel to its length and landing with the point.
nounA push, stab, or lunge forward.
Sentence Examples
Don't thrust your knife into the cheese.
A bunch of people thrust their way toward the rear exit.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The rocket's powerful ____ allowed it to escape the Earth's strong gravity.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The athlete used her powerful legs to ____ herself forward and win the final race of the tournament today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English þrusten, from Old Norse þrysta, from Proto-Germanic *þrustijaną, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *trewd-.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Tilehurst […] began to pedal unhurryingly towards the anticipated lane, with the easy thrust of a man who has just made a substantial meal and knows that he has plenty of time and to spare for his appointment."
— 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
"“The main thrust of it was that Britain is losing out, that Brexit it not delivering, our economy is in a weak position,” said the source."
— 2023 February 11, Toby Helm, “Revealed: secret cross-party summit held to confront failings of Brexit”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
"As is normal for biopics, the movie takes liberties with the historical record, but the thrust of the narrative is not disputed."
— 2025 January 17, “The Guardian view on musical tastes: beware the algorithm comfort zone”, in The Guardian:
"It is my earnest hope that the bitter lessons China has learned may prove instructive to countries and governments, and especially those in Asia which now face the same threat of Communism. Often it is not easy for most people to realize the presence of this threat in their midst, and by the time they do, it may already be too late to prevent its thrusting them behind the Iron Curtain at least for a time."
— 1957, Chiang Chung-cheng (Kai-shek), “Introduction”, in Soviet Russia in China: A Summing-up at Seventy, New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 7:
"Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs."
— 1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), pages 377–378:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The rocket's powerful ____ allowed it to escape the Earth's strong gravity.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The athlete used her powerful legs to ____ herself forward and win the final race of the tournament today.