Gravitation \Grav"i*ta"tion\, n. [Cf. F. gravitation. See
Gravity.]
1. The act of gravitating.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Pysics) That species of attraction or force by which all
bodies or particles of matter in the universe tend toward
each other; called also attraction of gravitation,
universal gravitation, and universal gravity. See
Attraction, and Weight.
[1913 Webster]
Law of gravitation, that law in accordance with which
gravitation acts, namely, that every two bodies or
portions of matter in the universe attract each other with
a force proportional directly to the quantity of matter
they contain, and inversely to the squares of their
distances.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
gravitation
n 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; "the more remote the body
the less the gravity"; "the gravitation between two
bodies is proportional to the product of their masses
and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them"; "gravitation cannot be held responsible
for people falling in love"--Albert Einstein [syn: gravity,
gravitational attraction, gravitational force]
2: movement downward resulting from gravitational attraction;
"irrigation by gravitation rather than by pumps" [ant: levitation]
3: a figurative movement toward some attraction; "the
gravitation of the middle class to the suburbs"
WordNet (r) 2.0
63 Moby Thesaurus words for "gravitation":
G, G suit, adduction, affinity, allurement, apogeotropism,
attractance, attraction, attractiveness, attractivity, capillarity,
capillary attraction, cascade, cataract, centripetal force, chute,
collapse, comedown, crash, debacle, declension, declination,
defluxion, descending, descension, descent, down, downbend,
downcome, downcurve, downfall, downflow, downgrade, downpour,
downrush, downtrend, downturn, downward trend, drag, draw, drop,
dropping, fall, falling, geotropism, graviton, gravity,
inclination, magnetism, mass, mutual attraction, plummeting,
pounce, pull, pulling power, rapids, specific gravity, stoop,
swoop, sympathy, traction, tug, waterfall
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
GRAVITATION, n. The tendency of all bodies to approach one another
with a strength proportion to the quantity of matter they contain --
the quantity of matter they contain being ascertained by the strength
of their tendency to approach one another. This is a lovely and
edifying illustration of how science, having made A the proof of B,
makes B the proof of A.
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)
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