Deflector
noun ·3 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Something which deflects something else, especially a stream of fluid or particles.
"1992 Nasa Patents Available for Licensing from the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center The deflector assembly contains a plurality of vanes which change the direction of the solar energy to the vertical, while constantly keeping the same side of the deflector facing the sun."
- 2 a device intended to turn aside the flow of something (water or air or smoke etc.) wordnet
- 3 A diaphragm in a lamp, stove, etc. by which the flame and gases are brought together to improve combustion.
- 4 A force field; an invisible barrier used as a protective shield.
"The blasters are those beams of ravening destruction which take care of recalcitrant meteorites in a spaceship's course when the deflectors can't handle them."
Example
More examples"Once the asteroids are spotted and their orbits determined, an earthbound asteroid can be nudged slightly off course with a satellite deflector or a high velocity projectile, or blown up with nuclear weapons, causing it to miss its deadly rendezvous."
Etymology
From deflect + -or.
Related phrases
More for "deflector"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.