Blaster

From Fancyclopedia 2, ca. 1959

A weapon of carefully unspecified nature whose name sounds more scientific than the term ("raygun") it displaced in usage as the standard stfnal sidearm. As with the raygun, effect and range depend solely on the author's requirements.

The word first appeared, spelled “blastor,” in the April 1925 Weird Tales in Nictzin Dyalhis’ story, “When the Green Star Waned.”

• Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
• Entry in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.

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Fanspeak

1925—

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