combustorn.
/kəmˈbʌstə/, U.S. /kəmˈbəstər/ΚΠ
1892 Year Bk. Central Conf. Amer. Rabbis 1891–2 35 That the custom of burning the dead must formerly have been a universal one, we learn from Amos vi. 10, where the nearest blood-relation is called..‘the combustor’.
2. A combustible substance; a gas that supports combustion. rare.
ΚΠ
1900 O. Oldberg Inorg. Chem. I. xxx. 333 Gaseous elements which, like oxygen, support combustion, or chemical combination accompanied by heat and light, are called combustors. Chlorine is one of the active combustors.
1920 H. H. Newman Vertebr. Zoöl. viii. 262 In birds carbohydrates, etc., constitute the fuel, the nerve impulse is the combustion agent and oxygen the combustor.
3. Engineering. An apparatus or place where combustion occurs; spec. a combustion chamber in an engine.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > parts of > combustion chamber
combustion chamber1854
combuster1909
combustor1914
1914 U.S. Patent 1,096,854 1/2 The construction of this incinerator may be of any well known character, the general construction of such combustors being well known.
1922 Brit. Patent 175,785 1/2 This main body or oil chamber is fixed to the combustor portion of the burner by an adjustable fitting or bracket.
1945 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. 23/3 All four of its major components, compressor, combustor, turbine and jet nozzle, are lined up one behind the other in that order.
1960 Astronautics Apr. 100/2 There are many ways in which such combustors can be combined with a nozzle..to form attractive propulsion system configurations.
2006 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Aug. 44/1 Engineers aimed for a Mach 4 scramjet start-up speed, which is difficult to achieve because the temperature of air entering the combustor at that speed is far below that at which the fuel autoignites.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1892