propulsoryadj.

1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. 272 It must bee thrust through, either by the steale, if it stick in, or else..with a propulsorie instrument.

1700 J. Jones Myst. Opium Reveal'd 115 Nor is there any Propulsory Engine for them, as is for the Bloud, therefore it must be from their springiness.

1805 A. Knox Let. 8 July in J. Jebb & A. Knox Thirty Years' Corr. (1834) I. 208 I had reasons propulsory, for every one of them; and reasons attractive, for three out of the four.

1885 Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator 12 May The power of this tremendous propulsory apparatus is almost beyond conception.

1910 Oakland (Calif.) 21 Aug. The experience which cost him his life has not been overcome in later times by the use of motors as propulsory and sustaining agents.

1944 O. Glasser Med. Physics 470 From the moment the head of the femur lies directly over the ankle until the moment the foot leaves the ground with the take-off, the leg acts as a propulsory force.

1991 P. Sima & V. Vevicka Evol. Immune Reactions 99 There is no heart comparable to the propulsory organs of chordates, molluscs, or arthropods.

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Propulsory, that serves to put away or drive back. [Also in later dictionaries.]