Adjacent Words

Attract definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ATTRACT', v.t. [L. attraho, attractus, of ad and trako, to draw. See Drag and Draw.]
1. To draw to; to cause to move towards, and unite with; as, electrical bodies attract straws, and light substances, by physical laws.
2. To draw to or incline to unite with though some cause may prevent the union; as, the sun is supposed to attract the planets.
3. To draw by influence of a moral kind; to invite or allure; as, to attract admirers.
4. To engage; as, to attract attention.
ATTRACT', n. Attraction. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes; "Her good looks attract the stares of many men"; "The ad pulled in many potential customers"; "This pianist pulls huge crowds"; "The store owner was happy that the ad drew in many new customers" [syn: attract, pull, pull in, draw, draw in] [ant: beat back, drive, force back, push back, repel, repulse]
2: be attractive to; "The idea of a vacation appeals to me"; "The beautiful garden attracted many people" [syn: attract, appeal] [ant: repel, repulse]
3: exert a force on (a body) causing it to approach or prevent it from moving away; "the gravitational pull of a planet attracts other bodies"

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere, from ad- + trahere to pull, draw Date: 15th century transitive verb to cause to approach or adhere: as a. to pull to or draw toward oneself or itself <a magnet attracts iron> b. to draw by appeal to natural or excited interest, emotion, or aesthetic sense ; entice <attract attention> intransitive verb to exercise attraction • attractor noun Synonyms: attract, allure, charm, captivate, fascinate, enchant mean to draw another by exerting a powerful influence. attract applies to any degree or kind of ability to exert influence over another <students attracted by the school's locale>. allure implies an enticing by what is fair, pleasing, or seductive <an alluring smile>. charm implies the power of casting a spell over the person or thing affected and so compelling a response <charmed by their hospitality>, but it may, like captivate suggest no more than evoking delight or admiration <her performances captivated audiences>. fascinate suggests a magical influence and tends to stress the ineffectiveness of attempts to resist <a story that continues to fascinate children>. enchant is perhaps the strongest of these terms in stressing the appeal of the agent and the degree of delight evoked in the subject <hopelessly enchanted by her beauty>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 (also absol.) draw or bring to oneself or itself (attracts many admirers; attracts attention). 2 be attractive to; fascinate. 3 (of a magnet, gravity, etc.) exert a pull on (an object). Derivatives: attractable adj. attractor n. Etymology: L attrahere (as AD-, trahere tract- draw)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attract At*tract", n. Attraction. [Obs.] --Hudibras.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attract At*tract", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attracted; p. pr. & vb. n. Attracting.] [L. attractus, p. p. of attrahere; ad + trahere to draw. See Trace, v. t.] 1. To draw to, or cause to tend to; esp. to cause to approach, adhere, or combine; or to cause to resist divulsion, separation, or decomposition. All bodies and all parts of bodies mutually attract themselves and one another. --Derham. 2. To draw by influence of a moral or emotional kind; to engage or fix, as the mind, attention, etc.; to invite or allure; as, to attract admirers. Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze. --Milton. Syn: To draw; allure; invite; entice; influence.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(attracts, attracting, attracted) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If something attracts people or animals, it has features that cause them to come to it. The Cardiff Bay project is attracting many visitors... Warm weather has attracted the flat fish close to shore... VERB: V n, V n adv/prep 2. If someone or something attracts you, they have particular qualities which cause you to like or admire them. If a particular quality attracts you to a person or thing, it is the reason why you like them. He wasn't sure he'd got it right, although the theory attracted him by its logic... More people would be attracted to cycling if conditions were right. VERB: V n, V n to n 3. If you are attracted to someone, you are interested in them sexually. In spite of her hostility, she was attracted to him... VERB: be V-ed to n • attracted He was nice looking, but I wasn't deeply attracted to him... ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ to n 4. If something attracts support, publicity, or money, it receives support, publicity, or money. President Mwinyi said his country would also like to attract investment from private companies... VERB: V n 5. If one object attracts another object, it causes the second object to move towards it. Anything with strong gravity attracts other things to it. VERB: V n to n, also V n 6. to attract someone's attention: see attention

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Draw, bring into proximity, cause to approach. 2. Allure, invite, entice, engage, win, captivate, fascinate, endear, charm, enamour.

Moby Thesaurus

adduct, affect the interest, allure, appeal, appeal to, be attractive, be magnetic, becharm, beckon, beguile, bewitch, captivate, carry away, charm, concern, court, drag, draw, draw in, draw on, draw towards, enamor, enchant, endear, engage, enrapture, entice, entrance, excite, excite interest, fascinate, fetch, have an attraction, hold in thrall, infatuate, inflame with love, interest, intrigue, inveigle, invite, involve in, lure, magnet, magnetize, pique, provoke, pull, pull towards, seduce, solicit, stimulate, suck in, summon, take, tantalize, tease, tempt, tickle, titillate, tug, vamp, whet the appetite, wile