Adjacent Words

Friction definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FRIC'TION, n. [L. frictio, frico, to rub.]
1. The act of rubbing the surface of one body against that of another; attrition. Many bodies by friction emit light, and friction generates or evolves heat.
2. In mechanics, the effect of rubbing, or the resistance which a moving body meets with from the surface on which it moves.
3. In medicine, the rubbing of the body with the hand, or with a brush, flannel, etc.; or the rubbing of a diseased part with oil, unguent or other medicament.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state of conflict between persons [syn: clash, friction]
2: the resistance encountered when one body is moved in contact with another [syn: friction, rubbing]
3: effort expended in moving one object over another with pressure [syn: friction, detrition, rubbing]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: earlier, therapeutic rubbing of the limbs, from Middle French, from Latin friction-, frictio, from fricare to rub; akin to Latin friare to crumble, and perhaps to Sanskrit bhr??anti they injure Date: 1704 1. a. the rubbing of one body against another b. the force that resists relative motion between two bodies in contact 2. the clashing between two persons or parties of opposed views ; disagreement 3. sound produced by the movement of air through a narrow constriction in the mouth or glottis • frictionless adjective • frictionlessly adverb

Britannica Concise

Force that resists sliding or rolling of one solid object over another. Some friction is beneficial, such as the traction used to walk without slipping. Most friction, though, is undesirable opposition to motion, such as between moving parts of machines. For example, about 20% of the work done by an automobile engine is needed to overcome friction between moving parts. Friction is a result of attractive forces between the contact regions of two bodies, and the amount of friction is almost independent of the area of contact. Kinetic friction arises between surfaces in relative motion, static friction acts between surfaces at rest with respect to each other, and rolling friction occurs when an object rolls over a surface.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the action of one object rubbing against another. 2 the resistance an object encounters in moving over another. 3 a clash of wills, temperaments, or opinions; mutual animosity arising from disagreement. 4 (in comb.) of devices that transmit motion by frictional contact (friction-clutch; friction-disc). Phrases and idioms: friction-ball a ball used in bearings to lessen friction. Derivatives: frictional adj. frictionless adj. Etymology: F f. L frictio -onis f. fricare frict- rub

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(frictions) 1. If there is friction between people, there is disagreement and argument between them. Sara sensed that there had been friction between her children... = conflict N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl 2. Friction is the force that makes it difficult for things to move freely when they are touching each other. The pistons are graphite-coated to reduce friction.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Attrition, abrasion, confrication, rubbing. 2. Rubbing or rolling resistance, resistance from roughness.

Moby Thesaurus

Discordia, Eris, abrading, abrasion, animosity, antagonism, antipathy, argument, attrition, backlash, bad blood, belligerence, bickering, caressing, chafing, clash, clashing, collision, competition, conflict, confutation, contention, contradiction, contraposition, contrariety, contrariness, controversy, counteraction, counterposition, counterworking, crankiness, cross-purposes, crotchetiness, despitefulness, disaccord, disaffinity, disagreement, discord, discordance, discordancy, disharmony, dispute, dissension, dissent, enmity, erosion, feeling, fingering, fractiousness, fretting, fricative, frictional, frottage, grating, handling, hate, hatred, hostility, ill feeling, ill will, incompatibility, incompatibleness, inharmoniousness, inharmony, inimicalness, interference, jangle, jar, kick, malevolence, malice, malignity, manipulation, mischief, negativeness, nonconformity, noncooperation, obstinacy, open conflict, opposition, opposure, oppugnance, oppugnancy, palpation, perverseness, petting, pressure, quarrelsomeness, reaction, recalcitrance, recoil, refractoriness, renitency, repercussion, repugnance, resistance, revolt, rivalry, rub, rubbing, scraping, spite, spitefulness, strained relations, strife, stroking, swimming upstream, tension, touching, uncooperativeness, unharmoniousness, unpleasantness, vying, wrangling