Adjacent Words

Gravitate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRAV'ITATE, v.i. [L. gravitas, from gravis, heavy.]
To tend to the center of a body, or the central point of attraction. Thus a body elevated above the earth tends to fall, that is, it gravitates towards the center of the earth; and the planets are supposed to gravitate towards the sun, or center of the solar system.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: move toward; "The conversation gravitated towards politics"
2: be attracted to; "Boys gravitate towards girls at that age"
3: move due to the pull of gravitation; "The stars gravitate towards each other"

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (-tated; -tating) Date: 1692 1. to move under the influence of gravitation 2. a. to move toward something b. to be drawn or attracted especially by natural inclination <youngsters…gravitate toward a strong leader — Rose Friedman>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. (foll. by to, towards) move or be attracted to some source of influence. 2 tr. & intr. a move or tend by force of gravity towards. b sink by or as if by gravity. Etymology: mod.L gravitare GRAVITAS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gravitate Grav"i*tate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gravitated; p. pr. & vb. n. Gravitating.] [Cf. F. graviter. See Gravity.] To obey the law of gravitation; to exert a force Or pressure, or tend to move, under the influence of gravitation; to tend in any direction or toward any object. Why does this apple fall to the ground? Because all bodies gravitate toward each other. --Sir W. Hamilton. Politicians who naturally gravitate towards the stronger party. --Macaulay.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(gravitates, gravitating, gravitated) If you gravitate towards a particular place, thing, or activity, you are attracted by it and go to it or get involved in it. Traditionally young Asians in Britain have gravitated towards medicine, law and engineering. VERB: V towards/to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Tend by gravity.

Moby Thesaurus

bend to, bias, cascade, cataract, collapse, come down, conduce, contribute, crash, descend, dip down, dispose, down, drop, drop down, drop off, fall, fall down, fall off, go, go down, go downhill, have a tendency, head, incline, lead, lean, look to, lose altitude, parachute, pitch, plummet, plunge, point, point to, pounce, pour down, precipitate, rain, redound to, serve, set, set toward, settle, show a tendency, sink, stoop, subside, swoop, tend, tend to go, trend, trend downward, turn, verge, warp, work toward