Definition: attraction
Source: WordNet (r) 1.7
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: attractor, attractive feature]
5: an entertainer who attracts large audiences; "he was the
biggest drawing card they had" [syn: drawing card, draw,
attractor]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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.
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.
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.
