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Glite Dictionary
💥 A striking object 🌍 A strong influence
impactor

impactor

3 7.8
A thing that strikes another object hard in experiments or collisions
  • noun
  • /ɪmˈpæktər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : impactador
  • The impactor created a crater on the moon's surface, demonstrating the force of its impact.
  • impactor head
  • a giant impactor

If you happen to be on Mars when this impactor hit, it was a really bad day on Mars.

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Examples

  • Top: The impactor was large enough to survive its passage through the atmosphere, striking the ground and forming the crater.

    Academic text (1994)

  • If you happen to be on Mars when this impactor hit, it was a really bad day on Mars.

    TED-Ed

  • The giant impactor would have formed in the same region, giving it a similar chemical composition.

    Academic text (2003)

  • With no space program at the time to deflect the impactor, it was a bad day for the dinosaurs.

  • We believe the rings are part of the planetary surface's response to an impactor many miles in diameter.

    Academic text (1991)

  • So we crash the Impactor into the densest Earth Trojan.

    Impact Earth (2015)

  • All of the pockmarks of all of the the impactors that had hit the planet's surface were still there.

  • No modest impact can ping matter off a surface at such speeds; the impactor must be more than 300 feet across, substantially larger than the one that excavated the Barringer crater.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The scientists designed the impactor to collide with the asteroid to prevent it from hitting Earth.

  • During the experiment, the impactor was released from a height to test its striking force on the target.

Synonyms

striker
vsimpactor
  • Specialized
3 7.0

A part that hits something to make a gun fire or a bell ring

is a standalone object used to strike targets in scientific or engineering contexts
forcer
vsimpactor
1 7.0

A tool that moves stuck things by pushing or pulling

is specifically a striking object used to hit other objects in technical work

How Forceful

asteroid
314 5.0
missile
44 4.4
impactor
  • Specialized
3 7.8
projectile
46 6.6
particle
  • Specialized
447 4.2

Surface Forms

impactor singular
impactors plural

Morphology

impactor = impact (transparent) = impact + or

The agentive suffix '-or' added to the verb 'impact' produces an agent or device that strikes, which is a direct and regular derivation.

Etymology

Impactor comes from impact ('a strong hit') plus the ending -or ('one who' or 'thing that does'). So an impactor is the thing that hits, which is why it means an object that strikes another with force.