thrust / [unvoicedth]rəst/ • v. (past thrust) [tr.] push (something or someone) suddenly or violently in the specified direction: she thrust her hands into her pockets| fig. Howard was thrust into the limelight | [intr.] he thrust at his opponent with his sword. ∎  [intr.] (of a person) move or advance forcibly: she thrust through the bramble canes he tried to thrust his way past her. ∎  [intr.] (of a thing) extend so as to project conspicuously: beside the boathouse a jetty thrust out into the water. ∎  (thrust something on/upon) force (someone) to accept or deal with something: he felt that fame had been thrust upon him. ∎  [intr.] (of a man) penetrate the vagina or anus of a sexual partner with forceful movements of the penis.• n. 1. a sudden or violent lunge with a pointed weapon or a bodily part: he drove the blade upward with one powerful thrust. ∎  a forceful attack or effort: executives led a new thrust in business development. ∎  [in sing.] the principal purpose or theme of a course of action or line of reasoning: anti-Americanism became the main thrust of their policy.2. the propulsive force of a jet or rocket engine. ∎  the lateral pressure exerted by an arch or other support in a building.3. (also thrust fault) Geol. a reverse fault of low angle, with older strata displaced horizontally over younger.PHRASES: cut and thrust see cut.

thrust A low-angle (commonly less than 45°) reverse fault, with a significant dip-slip component, in which the hanging wall overhangs the footwall. Synthetic thrust sets form imbricate fan structures which may be thrust-bound, when they form a duplex. Single thrusts typically show a ‘staircase’ trajectory composed of ramps and flats.

thrust Driving force resulting from operation of a propeller, jet engine or rocket engine. An aircraft propeller forces air backwards, and jet and rocket engines expel gases backwards. Thrust occurs in the forward direction in accordance with the third of Newton's laws of motion. See also aerodynamics

thrust. Outward pressure of any arch or vault. It has to be resisted by a counter-thrust provided by another arch, buttress, etc.

Thrust

a large milling crowd, 1565.

Example : they were faint with the great thrust and throng of the people, 1588.