Blaster

How to spell blaster

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce blaster

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does blaster mean?

1. nounA device or tool that propels something with great force, or a weapon that fires energy in fiction.

Blaster in a sentence

• The workshop used a sand blaster to strip rust from the old gate.

• In the film the soldier reached for a laser blaster before the door opened.

Where does blaster come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The core of this word is 'blast', which comes from the Old English 'blæst', meaning a blowing or a gust of wind, and ultimately from a Germanic root tied to blowing and swelling. For centuries 'blast' referred to a rush of air, the sound of a trumpet, or a sudden burst, and only later took on the sense of an explosion when gunpowder and quarrying entered the picture. The agent suffix '-er', also of Germanic stock, attaches to verbs to name the thing or person that performs the action, exactly as in 'toaster' or 'printer'. So a 'blaster' is simply 'something that blasts', a formation that English builds freely. The modern senses, from industrial sandblasters to the ray guns of science fiction, all trace back to that same idea of a forceful burst.

How the word is built

• blast (a strong gust, an explosion)
• -er (agent suffix: a thing or person that does the action)