English

Noun

tractor beam ‎(plural tractor beams)

1. (science fiction) A device-generated beam used to attract other objects from a distance.
   • 1931 August, Smith, E. E. "Doc", “Spacehounds of IPC”, in Amazing Stories, volume 6, number 5, page 549:

     Through it Stevens saw with satisfaction that the Forlorn Hope was not being abandoned; in the grip of powerful tractor beams, every fragment of the wreckage was following close behind them in their flight through space.

   • 1945 June, Leinster, Murray, “The Ethical Equations”, in Astounding Science Fiction, volume 35, number 4, page 122:

     By the way they're braced, there are tractor beams and pressor beams and—there are vacuum tubes that have grids but apparently work with cold cathodes.

   • 1977, George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope:

     Han Solo: "We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!"

Antonyms

• pressor beam
• repulsor beam

Translations

References

• Jeff Prucher, editor (2007) Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530567-8
• tractor beam n. at the OED Science Fiction Citations Project