Phrase guide

tractor beam

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: literature, media, publishing, science-fiction

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: pressor beam, repulsor beam

History

Etymology

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.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 牽引波束 /牵引波束 (qiānyǐn bōshù) — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • Chinese Mandarin: 牽引光束 /牵引光束 (qiānyǐn guāngshù) — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • Finnish: vetosäde — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • German: Traktorstrahl — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • German: Fangstrahl — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • Italian: raggio traente — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance
  • Spanish: rayo tractor — device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance