Impactor

//ɪmˈpæktɚ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several machines or devices in which a part impacts on another, or on a material.

    "cascade impactor"

  2. 2
    An object which impacts another.

    "Chicxulub impactor"

Example

More examples

"NASA scientists say everything remains on course for what promises to be Monday's spectacular rendez-vous between the Deep Impact space probe and the comet, Tempel 1. The announcement follows the separation of the "impactor" from the fly-by space craft, which will record the massive collision."

Etymology

Borrowed from New Latin impāctor, from impingō + -tor.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.