GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gravitational attraction mean? 

• GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION (noun)
  The noun GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION has 1 sense:

1. (physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface

  Familiarity information: GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

gravitation; gravitational attraction; gravitational force; gravity

Context example:

gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love

Hypernyms ("gravitational attraction" is a kind of...):

attraction; attractive force (the force by which one object attracts another)

Domain category:

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

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

solar gravity (the gravity of the sun)

 Context examples 

They have also posited the existence of a "dark energy" that is more powerful than gravitational attraction.

(There May Be No Dark Matter, Dark Energy in Universe, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of the giant planets in our solar system into orbits that allow them to enter Earth's neighborhood.

(Asteroid-Hunting Spacecraft Delivers a Second Year of Data, NASA)

If the smaller cluster makes a close pass by the central core, the gravitational attraction between both structures causes the gas in the core to slosh around like wine swirled in a glass.

(Scientists Surprised by Relentless Cosmic Cold Front, NASA)

Their mutual gravitational attraction causes galaxies to fall at high speed into galaxy clusters, where they encounter a hot, dense gas which acts like a powerful wind, forcing tails of gas out of the galaxy’s disc and triggering starbursts within it.

(Supermassive Black Holes Feed on Cosmic Jellyfish, ESO)