# thruster

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈθɹʌ.stɚ/ · frequency rank #42,450

## Definitions
1. One who thrusts, who pushes or stabs.
2. A device for propelling an object, especially a spacecraft or a ship (marine vessel).
3. A bow thruster or a stern thruster.
4. A surfboard (usually a shortboard) with three fins of approximately equal size, one centred at the back, one on each side about 25cm forward and out near the rails.
5. An ambitious, driven person; a go-getter.

## Etymology
From thrust + -er. The surfboard sense was coined (but never trademarked) by Simon Anderson, who created the design in 1980. The name was almost immediately applied generically to any surfboard with that fin design.

## Easily confused with
- **trusted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thruster-vs-trusted)
- **trustee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thruster-vs-trustee)
- **thrusts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thruster-vs-thrusts)
- **thrusters** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thruster-vs-thrusters)
- **thrust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thrust-vs-thruster)
- **thrasher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thrasher-vs-thruster)

## Common misspellings (13)
`htruster`, `thhruster`, `thrruster`, `thrsuter`, `thrusetr`, `thrusster`, `thrusterr`, `thrustre`, `thrustter`, `thrutser`, `thurster`, `trhuster`, `tthruster`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thruster