gravitational
Americanadjective
-
Physics. of or relating to the force of attraction between two masses.
The gravitational effect of the moon causes the rise and fall of ocean tides.
-
of or relating to a strong movement or natural tendency toward something or someone.
Their gravitational attraction to self-destructive behavior has been the subject of much study.
Other Word Forms
- antigravitational adjective
- gravitationally adverb
Etymology
Origin of gravitational
First recorded in 1850–55; gravitation ( def. ) + -al 1 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their approach improves the precision of earlier gravitational wave based techniques.
From Science Daily
In some earlier cases, the galaxy's light was also distorted by passing near a massive object, an effect known as gravitational lensing.
From Science Daily
For many years, researchers believed Saturn's precession matched Neptune's, allowing their gravitational interactions to gradually tilt Saturn and make its rings more visible from Earth.
From Science Daily
The resulting electrostatic pressure could approach levels similar to tidal or gravitational stresses that are already known to influence fault stability.
From Science Daily
These include the small number of satellites and tracking stations, the high orbital altitude of the satellites, which restricts detection to broad gravitational patterns, and the relatively low resolution of the gravitational measurements.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
