extractor
1
8.3
- noun
- /ɪkˈstræktər/
- Specialized
:
extractor
- The top-break revolver had an extractor that, when the frame was opened, ejected spent brass.
- Mauser-style extractor
- claw extractor
Examples
-
He was, in fact, holding a Browning automatic twelve-gauge shotgun, complicated by a magazine cutout and double extractors.
Academic text (1996) -
So it's a unique pistol in that it uses a tipping barrel and it has no extractor or ejector.
-
With luck, the extractor does the trick and the mechanic returns to his original quest.
Academic text (2002) -
The heavy metal of the breech keeps everything from exploding, and liquid nitrogen cools the cartridge down to reduce the pressure so it doesn't crack when the extractor pulls it free.
Fiction book (1999) -
One was a long, nonrotary extractor that lay along the right side of the bolt.
-
As the barrel tips forward, an extractor extends to remove the cartridge brass, whether spent or unfired, from the chamber.
Synonyms
A part in a gun that pulls out empty shells from the chamber so they fall out
A small part that pulls an empty shell from a gun chamber after firing
Compounds
- Specialized
A small part that pulls an empty shell from a gun chamber after firing
How Reliable
- Specialized
1
8.3
- Specialized
3
5.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
extractor = extract (semi-transparent) = ex + tract + or
The form is compositional, but the firearm-specific referent is a technical specialization rather than the most salient everyday meaning.
Etymology
Extractor comes from the Latin parts ex- meaning 'out' and tract meaning 'pull', the same root you see in tractor. So on a firearm an extractor is the small part that 'pulls out' the empty cartridge case after a shot.