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at·trac·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-trkshn)
n.
The act or capability of attracting.
The quality of attracting; charm.
A feature or characteristic that attracts.
A person, place, thing, or event that is intended to attract: The main attraction was a Charlie Chaplin film.
The electric or magnetic force exerted by oppositely charged particles, tending to draw or hold the particles together.
The gravitational force exerted by one body on another.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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attraction
( P ) attraction: log in for this definition of attraction and other entries in Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, available only to Dictionary.com Premium members.
Source: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
attraction
Magnetic \Mag*net"ic\, Magnetical \Mag*net"ic*al\, a. [L. magneticus: cf. F. magn['e]tique.] 1. Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic bar of iron; a magnetic needle.
2. Of or pertaining to, or characterized by, the earth's magnetism; as, the magnetic north; the magnetic meridian.
3. Capable of becoming a magnet; susceptible to magnetism; as, the magnetic metals.
4. Endowed with extraordinary personal power to excite the feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing attachment.
She that had all magnetic force alone. --Donne.
5. Having, susceptible to, or induced by, animal magnetism, so called; as, a magnetic sleep. See Magnetism.
Magnetic amplitude, attraction, dip, induction, etc. See under Amplitude, Attraction, etc.
Magnetic battery, a combination of bar or horseshoe magnets with the like poles adjacent, so as to act together with great power.
Magnetic compensator, a contrivance connected with a ship's compass for compensating or neutralizing the effect of the iron of the ship upon the needle.
Magnetic curves, curves indicating lines of magnetic force, as in the arrangement of iron filings between the poles of a powerful magnet.
Magnetic elements. (a) (Chem. Physics) Those elements, as iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, manganese, etc., which are capable or becoming magnetic. (b) (Physics) In respect to terrestrial magnetism, the declination, inclination, and intensity. (c) See under Element.
Magnetic equator, the line around the equatorial parts of the earth at which there is no dip, the dipping needle being horizontal.
Magnetic field, or Field of magnetic force, any space through which magnet exerts its influence.
Magnetic fluid, the hypothetical fluid whose existence was formerly assumed in the explanations of the phenomena of magnetism.
Magnetic iron, or Magnetic iron ore. (Min.) Same as Magnetite.
Magnetic needle, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the surveyor's.
Magnetic poles, the two points in the opposite polar regions of the earth at which the direction of the dipping needle is vertical.
Magnetic pyrites. See Pyrrhotite.
Magnetic storm (Terrestrial Physics), a disturbance of the earth's magnetic force characterized by great and sudden changes.
Magnetic telegraph, a telegraph acting by means of a magnet. See Telegraph.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
attraction
\At*trac"tion\, n. [L. attractio: cf. F. attraction.] 1. (Physics) An invisible power in a body by which it draws anything to itself; the power in nature acting mutually between bodies or ultimate particles, tending to draw them together, or to produce their cohesion or combination, and conversely resisting separation.
Note: Attraction is exerted at both sensible and insensible distances, and is variously denominated according to its qualities or phenomena. Under attraction at sensible distances, there are, -- (1.)
Attraction of gravitation, which acts at all distances throughout the universe, with a force proportional directly to the product of the masses of the bodies and inversely to the square of their distances apart. (2.)
Magnetic, diamagnetic, and electrical attraction, each of which is limited in its sensible range and is polar in its action, a property dependent on the quality or condition of matter, and not on its quantity. Under attraction at insensible distances, there are, -- (1.)
Adhesive attraction, attraction between surfaces of sensible extent, or by the medium of an intervening substance. (2.)
Cohesive attraction, attraction between ultimate particles, whether like or unlike, and causing simply an aggregation or a union of those particles, as in the absorption of gases by charcoal, or of oxygen by spongy platinum, or the process of solidification or crystallization. The power in adhesive attraction is strictly the same as that of cohesion. (3.)
Capillary attraction, attraction causing a liquid to rise, in capillary tubes or interstices, above its level outside, as in very small glass tubes, or a sponge, or any porous substance, when one end is inserted in the liquid. It is a special case of cohesive attraction. (4.)
Chemical attraction, or
affinity, that peculiar force which causes elementary atoms, or groups of atoms, to unite to form molecules.
2. The act or property of attracting; the effect of the power or operation of attraction. --Newton.
3. The power or act of alluring, drawing to, inviting, or engaging; an attractive quality; as, the attraction of beauty or eloquence.
4. That which attracts; an attractive object or feature.
Syn: Allurement; enticement; charm.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
attraction
Elective \E*lect"ive\, a. [Cf. F. ['e]lectif.] 1. Exerting the power of choice; selecting; as, an elective act.
2. Pertaining to, or consisting in, choice, or right of choosing; electoral.
The independent use of their elective franchise. --Bancroft.
3. Dependent on choice; bestowed or passing by election; as, an elective study; an elective office.
Kings of Rome were at first elective; . . . for such are the conditions of an elective kingdom. --Dryden.
Elective affinity or attraction (Chem.), a tendency to unite with certain things; chemism.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
attraction
n 1: the force by which one object attracts another [syn: attractive force] [ant: repulsion] 2: an entertainment that is offered to the public 3: the quality of arousing interest; being attractive or something that attracts; "her personality held a strange attraction for him" [syn: attractiveness] 4: a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts people [syn: attractive feature] 5: an entertainer who attracts large audiences; "he was the biggest drawing card they had" [syn: drawing card, draw]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
attraction
attraction: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary
Source: On-line Medical Dictionary, © 1997-98 Academic Medical Publishing & CancerWEB
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