PROPELLING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does propelling mean? 

• PROPELLING (adjective)
  The adjective PROPELLING has 1 sense:

1. tending to or capable of propelling

  Familiarity information: PROPELLING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PROPELLING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tending to or capable of propelling

Synonyms:

propellant; propellent; propelling; propulsive

Context example:

universities...the seats of propulsive thought

Similar:

dynamic; dynamical (characterized by action or forcefulness or force of personality)

 Context examples 

The cilia beat in unison (about 1,000 strokes per minute) and in a wave-like fashion, thereby propelling mucus and entrapped foreign material toward the oropharynx for expectoration or swallowing.

(Ciliated Bronchial Epithelial Cell, NCI Thesaurus)

It turns out this whip-like process also naturally generates Alfvén waves, a strong kind of magnetic wave scientists suspect is key to heating the sun’s atmosphere and propelling the solar wind, which constantly bathes our solar system and planet with charged particles from the sun.

(Scientists Uncover Origins of the Sun’s Swirling Spicules, NASA)

Burning a combination of refined kerosene called RP-1 and liquid oxygen and carrying a single solid-fueled booster, the first stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 pushed the spacecraft through the dense lower layers of the atmosphere, then the Centaur upper stage took over, propelling OSIRIS-REx faster and higher.

(Evening Launch Catapults OSIRIS-REx Toward Asteroid Encounter, NASA)