Crossword clues for propellant
propellant
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
less-etymological, but more usual, spelling of propellent; 1881 as a firearm explosive; 1919 as "fuel for a rocket engine."
Wiktionary
a. (alternative spelling of propellent English) alt. 1 anything that propels 2 fuel, oxidizer, reaction mass or mixture for one or more engines (especially internal combustion engines or jet engines) that is carried within a vehicle prior to use 3 the compressed gas in a pressurised container (especially an aerosol can) that is used to expel its content n. 1 anything that propels 2 fuel, oxidizer, reaction mass or mixture for one or more engines (especially internal combustion engines or jet engines) that is carried within a vehicle prior to use 3 the compressed gas in a pressurised container (especially an aerosol can) that is used to expel its content
WordNet
n. something that propels [syn: propellent]
adj. tending to or capable of propelling; "propellant fuel for submarines"; "the faster a jet plane goes the greater its propulsive efficiency"; "universities...the seats of propulsive thought" [syn: propellent, propelling, propulsive]
Wikipedia
A propellant or propellent is a chemical substance used in the production of energy or pressurized gas that is subsequently used to create movement of a fluid or to generate propulsion of a vehicle, projectile, or other object. Common propellants are energetic materials and consist of a fuel like gasoline, jet fuel, rocket fuel, and an oxidizer. Propellants are burned or otherwise decomposed to produce the propellant gas. Other propellants are simply liquids that can readily be vaporized.
In rockets and aircraft, propellants are used to produce a gas that can be directed through a nozzle, thereby producing thrust. In rockets, rocket propellant produces an exhaust, and the exhausted material is usually expelled under pressure through a nozzle. The pressure may be from a compressed gas, or a gas produced by a chemical reaction. The exhaust material may be a gas, liquid, plasma, or, before the chemical reaction, a solid, liquid, or gel. In aircraft, the propellant is usually a fuel and is combusted with the air.
In firearm ballistics, propellants fill the interior of an ammunition cartridge or the chamber of a gun or cannon, leading to the expulsion of a bullet or shell ( gunpowder, smokeless powder, and large gun propellants). Explosives can be placed in a sealed tube and act as a deflagrant low explosive charge in mining and demolition, to produce a low velocity heave effect ( gas pressure blasting).
Cold gas propellants may be used to fill an expansible bag or membrane, such as an automotive airbag (gas generator propellants) or in pressurised dispensing systems, such as aerosol sprays, to force a material through a nozzle. Examples of can propellants include nitrous oxide that is dissolved in canned whipped cream, and the dimethyl ether or low-boiling alkane used in hair spray. Rocket propellant may be expelled through an expansion nozzle as a cold gas, that is, without energetic mixing and combustion, to provide small changes in velocity to spacecraft by the use of cold gas thrusters.
Usage examples of "propellant".
The multiphase device discovered nothing indicative of weapons, propellants, or explosives.
For example, Iraq built a facility for the production of ammonium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid missile propellant, indicating that work continues on advanced solid-fuel multistage missiles.
Solid propellant rockets are so simple and storable that a five-stage hypervelocity bird could be depended upon after years of storage.
The men in the mortar platoon also went burdened with a mortar tube or baseplate, or a packframe loaded with 66 mm mortar bombs, plus propellant horseshoes.
The fish nearest our stern released a burst of propellant from its blowhole, and drifted closer to the drive shaft.
The culverin had, under his supervision, been fully charged with propellant powder and several thick wads, but no shot, for these coastal waters wherein the ships lay at anchor were heavily traveled, and no one wished to chance hulling or demasting some hapless, helpless fisherman by accident.
The one fusion reactor on the world powered most of the manufacturing, including the boosters and propellant for the shuttles and for the tugs to capture the orbiting masses of rock which had arrived from earth instead of ships when jumps went backward.
And its ammunition uses a propellant whose cook-off point is one hundred degrees higher than the standard nitrocellulose powders which-was She waved a dismissing hand.
Shot that caseless ammo looked like wax crayons, plastic propellant molded around alloy flechettes like big nails.
The brilliant circles of twenty propellant tails flashed past, then multiplied into many times that number as the decoys deployed.
His idea of borrowing propellant tanks from one of the landers was not as far-fetched as it seemed, but it had still been a gamble.
Using the pliers of the Leatherman, I eventually pulled the heads off the three rounds and poured the dark grain propellant onto the under.
Though we had propellant to spare for docking maneuvers, pride would require him to mate properly on the first pass.
William Collier was, before he lost his reason, a multitalented and highly intelligent man, innovative, well read in many fields, and holding university degrees which included a doctorate or two in chemistry, in which field he also had done certain amounts of research for his government, involving propellants.
Marcus had collected enough solvents, acids, propellants, and other chemicals to make a fairly noxious smoke bomb combined with an aerosol herbicide, the same kind she had used sparingly on her garden on Pacifica.