Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Gravity
Grav′i-ty
,Noun.
pl.
Gravities
(#)
. 1.
The state of having weight; beaviness;
as, the
. gravity
of lead2.
Sobriety of character or demeanor.
“Men of gravity and learning.” Shak.
3.
Importance, significance, dignity, etc; hence, seriousness; enormity;
as, the
. gravity
of an offenseThey derive an importance from . . . the
gravity
of the place where they were uttered. Burke.
4.
(Physics)
The tendency of a mass of matter toward a center of attraction; esp., the tendency of a body toward the center of the earth; terrestrial gravitation.
5.
(Mus.)
Lowness of tone; – opposed to
acuteness
. Center of gravity
See under
– Center
. Gravity battery
, See , 4.
– Battery
, Noun.
Specific gravity
, the ratio of the weight of a body to the weight of an equal volume of some other body taken as the standard or unit. This standard is usually water for solids and liquids, and air for gases. Thus, 19, the specific gravity of gold, expresses the fact that, bulk for bulk, gold is nineteen times as heavy as water.
Webster 1828 Edition
Gravity
GRAV'ITY
,Noun.
1.
Weight; heaviness.2.
In philosophy, that force by which bodies tend or are pressed or drawn towards the center of the earth, or towards some other center, or the effect of that force; in which last sense gravity is synonymous with weight.Definition 2024
gravity
gravity
English
Noun
gravity (countable and uncountable, plural gravities)
- Resultant force on Earth's surface, of the attraction by the Earth's masses, and the centrifugal pseudo-force caused by the Earth's rotation.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].
-
- Gravitation, universal force exercised by two bodies onto each other
(In casual discussion, gravity and gravitation are often used interchangeably).- 2012 January 1, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 86:
- Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.
-
- The state or condition of having weight; weight; heaviness.
- Specific gravity.
- The state or condition of being grave (graveness).
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
resultant force on Earth's surface
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gravitation, gravity force on two mass bodies
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graveness, the condition or state of being grave
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References
- J[ohn] A. Simpson and E[dward] S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861186-8.
