Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Moving or directed toward a center or axis.
- adjective Operated by means of centripetal force.
- adjective Physiology Transmitting nerve impulses toward the central nervous system; afferent.
- adjective Botany Developing or progressing inward toward the center or axis, as in the head of a sunflower, in which the oldest flowers are near the edge and the youngest flowers are in the center.
- adjective Tending or directed toward centralization.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Tending or moving toward the center: opposed to centrifugal.
- Progressing by changes from the exterior of an object to its center: as, the centripetal calcification of a bone.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Tending, or causing, to approach the center.
- adjective Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the summit.
- adjective Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos.
- adjective Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center.
- adjective (Mech.) a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round the sun, the center of the system, See Centrifugal force, under
Centrifugal . - adjective (Physiol.) an impression (sensory) transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the body
inwards , to the central organ.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
directed ormoving towards acentre - adjective of, relating to, or operated by
centripetal force - adjective neuroanatomy, of a nerve impulse directed towards the
central nervous system ;afferent
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective tending to unify
- adjective tending to move toward a center
- adjective of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing toward the central nervous system
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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That force which opposes itself to this endeavor, and by which the sling continually draws back the stone toward the hand and retains it in its orbit, because it is directed to the hand as the center of the orbit, I call the centripetal force.
Dictionary of the History of Ideas EDWARD ROSEN 1968
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This force is known as centripetal force and it is always directed toward the center of rotation.
Wind 2008
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But in gaining speed by nosing over, the runaway prop spun just that much faster, increasing its likelihood of busting loose according to an altogether predictable law of physics known as centripetal disintegration.
First Man James R. Hansen 2005
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But in gaining speed by nosing over, the runaway prop spun just that much faster, increasing its likelihood of busting loose according to an altogether predictable law of physics known as centripetal disintegration.
First Man James R. Hansen 2005
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But in gaining speed by nosing over, the runaway prop spun just that much faster, increasing its likelihood of busting loose according to an altogether predictable law of physics known as centripetal disintegration.
First Man James R. Hansen 2005
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But in gaining speed by nosing over, the runaway prop spun just that much faster, increasing its likelihood of busting loose according to an altogether predictable law of physics known as centripetal disintegration.
First Man James R. Hansen 2005
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The force which retains the celestial bodies in their orbits has been hitherto called centripetal force; but it being now made plain that it can be no other than a gravitating force, we shall hereafter call it gravity.
Dictionary of the History of Ideas EDWARD ROSEN 1968
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Under their influence, all subordinate worlds would be carried away into space, were it not for the complementary Law of Gravitation Attraction, that is, the centripetal force.
Aether and Gravitation William George Hooper
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-- This attraction of the earth, which gives articles the property of weight, is termed centripetal force -- that is, the drawing in of a body.
Practical Mechanics for Boys J. S. Zerbe
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The force which draws the revolving body continually to the center, or the deflecting force, is called the centripetal force, and, aside from the impelling and retarding forces which act in the direction of its motion, the centripetal force is, dynamically speaking, the only force which is exerted on the body.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 Various
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