appulse
noun
ap·pulse
əˈpəls,
aˈp-,
ˈaˌp- also -lts
plural -s
1
: a driving or running toward something (such as a place) : act of striking against something (such as a point)
the days have passed when national differences could be settled by the appulse of small professional armies
R. S. Ellery
R. S. Ellery2
: the apparent very near approach of one celestial body to another : a coming into conjunction see lunar appulse
Word History
Etymology
Latin appulsus driving forward, approach, from appulsus, past participle of appellere to drive toward, strike against, from ad- + pellere to drive, beat, push