What does eductor mean?
An eductor is a simple yet ingenious piece of engineering: a pump with no moving parts. It works on the principle of the Venturi effect — a high-velocity jet of steam, water, or air is forced through a nozzle, creating a region of low pressure that sucks in and entrains a surrounding fluid or slurry. The combined stream then passes through a diffuser, which converts velocity back into pressure for discharge. Eductors are prized wherever reliability matters more than efficiency: they handle corrosive chemicals, muddy bilge water in ships, sand-laden well fluids, and granular solids that would quickly destroy a conventional impeller pump. Because they contain no seals, bearings, or rotating elements, they require almost no maintenance and can be made from nearly any material. The word derives from the Latin eductus, meaning 'drawn out', and remains firmly a technical term, familiar chiefly to process engineers, naval architects, and anyone who has marveled at a machine that pumps by doing nothing but flowing fast.
nounA device, typically a type of jet pump, that uses the momentum of a high-velocity stream of fluid to draw in and entrain another fluid or material and discharge it through a converging-diverging tube.
- A jet-pump device that entrains one fluid into another using the momentum of a motive stream, common in chemical plants, ships, and wells.
- Rarely: one who or something that draws out or brings forth (from the literal Latin sense).
"The plant used an eductor to pump corrosive chemicals without any moving parts."
"A steam eductor lifted groundwater from the flooded hold without a single mechanical seal."
"The dredging crew replaced the failed impeller pump with a simple water-driven eductor."
Regular English plural; standard in technical writing when referring to multiple devices.
"Both eductors were inspected during the ship's dry-dock maintenance."
An eductor has no moving parts at all — it pumps liquids purely by harnessing the suction created by a fast-moving jet of steam or water.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eductor
The word eductor comes from the Latin eductor, meaning 'one who draws out', derived from the verb educere ('to lead out, draw forth'), formed from e- ('out') plus ducere ('to lead'). It entered English in technical usage in the 19th century, when engineers needed a name for jet-pump devices that 'draw out' fluid by entrainment. It shares its root with educate, educe, and education, all ultimately from ducere.
How eductor is actually used
Technical register, found mainly in engineering contexts such as marine, chemical-process, and petroleum literature. The terms 'eductor' and 'ejector' are often used interchangeably in industry, though 'eductor' more strongly implies entraining and lifting a secondary fluid.
Easily confused with eductor
An ejector discharges fluid outwards by force, while an eductor specifically draws in and entrains another fluid using a motive stream — though the terms overlap heavily in engineering practice.
An inductor is an electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field, whereas an eductor is a fluid-handling device.