pressor n.
-
1931
page image
Edward E. Smith
bibliography
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.
Spacehounds of IPC in Amazing Stories Sept. 560/1 -
1940
Edward E. Smith
‘Tractors and pressors as assigned—tip him over.’ The intensity of the bombardment did not slacken, but from the maulers to the north there reached out pressors, from those upon the south came tractors; each a beam of terrific power, each backed by all the mass and all the driving force of a veritable flying fortress.
in Astounding Science Fiction Jan. 107/2 -
1942
Ross Rocklynne
bibliography
A half-dozen rays, tractors and pressors both, stopped his protests, tore at him, pushed him, whirled him, until great foaming puffs of brilliance were erupted from his over-size body. In a fury, he lashed out with his own rays, but they were clumsily, ineffectively guided.
Abyss of Darkness in Astonishing Stories Dec. 95/2 -
1971
page image
Robert Silverberg
bibliography
Place your arms through the stasis loops and your feet in the security platens. When you have done this the pressor fields will automatically be activated and you will be fully insulated against injury during the coming period of turbulence.
In Entropy's Jaws in R. Hoskins Infinity 2 182 -
1973
Alan Dean Foster
The two shuttles slowed and maneuvered from side to side; a little lower and they were positioned directly over the shaft. A lift pressor at the bottom of the shaft gently locked in and the two shuttles released their hold. A tricky operation. The idea was that the two shuttles would release their hold at the same moment the main pressor took over. Unless timing and power were precisely matched, a catastrophic misalignment of forces could occur.
Bloodhype 48 -
1974
Joe Haldeman
A powerful pressor field kept out large predators and such insect life as was not necessary for the health of the plants inside.
in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Nov. 143/2 -
1974
Joe Haldeman
We both began swimming for an hour or so every clear day, in the calm, pressor-guarded water off the beach.
in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Nov. 145/2 -
1982
page image
Jonathan Milos
bibliography
The drivership lifted from Earth on pressor thrust.
End Papers in Asimov’s Science Fiction 15 Feb. 51 -
1994
page image
Debra Doyle
James D. Macdonald
bibliography
[S]he watched the Mage battleship grow larger and closer as its magnetic grapnels pulled the freighter in. More beams, tractors and pressors working together, drew the ’Hammer down to rest on blocks inside a huge docking bay.
By Honor Betray’d ii. 330
-
2000
page image
Diane Duane
bibliography
Now formal sessions of both Senate and Praetorate were being held elsewhere while workmen labored among the ugly pillars and struts of emergency scaffolding inside the building; and outside, tractor beams and pressors were supplementing the normal stresses which had formerly held the dome unsupported over the chamber. The architects had planned superbly, but they had not anticipated that the Chamber would ever have a starship sitting on its roof.
Swordhunt in Rihannsu i. 432
-
2008
page image
James Luceno
bibliography
Jadak’s improvisation had borne results Han was unprepared for. The faulty pressors and jets came back online with enough vigor to seesaw the Falcon’s starboard side down against the turbolift deck. The deck dropped, as well, so far and so forcefully that it tipped past level, nearly launching Jadak from the maintenance nacelle.
Millennium Falcon (2009) xxxi. 353
Research requirements
postdating 1931
Earliest cite
E. E. Smith, Spacehounds of IPC
Research History
Courtenay Footman submitted a cite for the form "pressor" from a 1966 reprint of E.E. Smith's "Gray Lensman"; Mike Christie then confirmed it in the original magazine appearance in 1940.Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite for the form "presser" from a 2000 reprint of David Weber's 1999 "The Hard Way Home".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1974 cite from Joe Haldeman's "This Best of All Possible Worlds".
Ralf Brown located and Daniel Frankham submitted a 1971 cite from Robert Silverberg's "In Entropy's Jaws".
Ralf Brown located a cite in an electronic text of Alan Dean Foster's 1973 "Bloodhype", and David Dyer-Bennet verified it in a paper copy.
Fred Galvin submitted a 1942 cite from "Abyss of Darkness", by Ross Rocklynne.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 1994 cite from Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 1990 cite from Diane Duane.
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2008 cite from James Luceno.
Last modified 2021-12-08 11:40:33
In the compilation of some
entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries
in OED.