spacer
nounUS /ˈspeɪsɚ/
Etymology From space + -er.
1
An object inserted to hold a space open in a row of items, e.g. beads or printed type.
- The vertical wall was poured in two lifts, using two pairs of steel shutters which were bolted tightly onto 9-in. long wooden spacers.1959 December 23, Richard Hope, “Narrow Gauge Landslip”, in Railway Magazine, page 866:
2
Literature, Media, Publishing, Science fiction A person who works or lives in space.
- It was the futile throwing back in the face of the Spacers their most keenly felt insult: their insistence on considering the natives of Earth as disgustingly diseased.1954, Isaac Asimov, The Caves of Steel:
- "How do I know I can trust you?" asked BKR. Grakker hesitated. "Spacer's oath," he said at last.2014 [1993], Bruce Coville, Aliens Ate My Homework, page 134:
2 more examples
- Shepard: What are you running for? Charles Saracino: I'm seeking one of the five spacer seats in Parliament. They have certain baroque conditions for a citizen to be able to vote for them. Charles Saracino: You have to spend more than six months a year in space. But you can't have stayed in any one settled system for more than a month.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
- He was thankful that he still had his suit on when the ship had a catastrophic decompression, a spacer's worst nightmare.2017, A.K. Brown, Humans on the Menu (Champagne Universe Series: Book 2), page 20:
3
A bushing.
4
Slang A forgetful person; one who spaces out.
5
Medicine, Sciences A type of add-on device used by an asthmatic person to increase the effectiveness of a metered-dose inhaler.
6
Historical An instrument for reversing a telegraphic current, especially in a marine cable, to increase the speed of transmission.