| Definition | =pressor beam |
| OED requirements | antedating 1940 |
| Earliest cite | E. E. Smith 'Gray Lensman' |
| Comment | Courtenay Footman submitted a cite for the form "pressor" from a 1966 reprint of E.E. Smith's "Gray Lensman"; Mike Christie then confirmed it in the original magazine appearance in 1940. Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite for the form "presser" from a 2000 reprint of David Weber's 1999 "The Hard Way Home". Malcolm Farmer submitted a 1974 cite from Joe Haldeman's "This Best of All Possible Worlds". Ralf Brown located and Daniel Frankham submitted a 1971 cite from Robert Silverberg's "In Entropy's Jaws". Ralf Brown located a cite in an electronic text of Alan Dean Foster's 1973 "Bloodhype", and David Dyer-Bennet verified it in a paper copy. Fred Galvin submitted a 1942 cite from "Abyss of Darkness", by Ross Rocklynne [pseudonym of Ross L. Rocklin] |
| Last modified | 23 July, 2009 |
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| 1931 Amazing Stories Sept. 560/1 | Onward and upward flashed the gigantic duplex cone, its entire whirling mass laced and latticed together—into one mammoth unit by green tractor beams and red pressors. |
| 1942 ‘R. Rocklynne’ Abyss of Darkness in Astonishing Stories Dec. 95/2 | A half-dozen rays, tractors and pressors both, stopped his protests, tore at him, pushed him, whirled him, until great foaming puffs of brilliance were erupted from his over-size body. In a fury, he lashed out with his own rays, but they were clumsily, ineffectively guided. |
| 1973 A. D. Foster Bloodhype 48 | The two shuttles slowed and maneuvered from side to side; a little lower and they were positioned directly over the shaft. A lift pressor at the bottom of the shaft gently locked in and the two shuttles released their hold. A tricky operation. The idea was that the two shuttles would release their hold at the same moment the main pressor took over. Unless timing and power were precisely matched, a catastrophic misalignment of forces could occur. |
| 1974 J. W. Haldeman in Analog Sci. Fiction/Sci. Fact Nov. 145/2 | They have to turn off the pressor field for a split second every time a ship lands; otherwise it would just ricochet off over the ocean. |
| 1974 J. W. Haldeman in Analog Sci. Fiction/Sci. Fact Nov. 145/2 | We both began swimming for an hour or so every clear day, in the calm, pressor-guarded water off the beach. |