ATTRACTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does attractor mean? 

• ATTRACTOR (noun)
  The noun ATTRACTOR has 3 senses:

1. an entertainer who attracts large audiences

2. (physics) a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system

3. a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts

  Familiarity information: ATTRACTOR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATTRACTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An entertainer who attracts large audiences

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

attracter; attraction; attractor; draw; drawing card

Context example:

he was the biggest drawing card they had

Hypernyms ("attractor" is a kind of...):

entertainer (a person who tries to please or amuse)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(physics) a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

attracter; attractor

Hypernyms ("attractor" is a kind of...):

point (a geometric element that has position but no extension)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "attractor"):

chaotic attractor; strange attractor (an attractor for which the approach to its final point in phase space is chaotic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

attracter; attraction; attractive feature; attractor; magnet

Context example:

flowers are an attractor for bees

Hypernyms ("attractor" is a kind of...):

characteristic; feature (a prominent attribute or aspect of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "attractor"):

attention (a general interest that leads people to want to know more)

tourist attraction (a characteristic that attracts tourists)

Derivation:

attract (be attractive to)