Adjacent Words

Gravity definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRAV'ITY, n. [L. gravitas, from gravis, heavy. See Grave.]
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.
Gravity is the tendency of great bodies to a center, or the sum or results of all the attractions of all the molecules composing a great body.
3. Specific gravity, the weight belonging to an equal bulk of every different substance. Thus the exact weight of a cubic inch of gold, compared with that of a cubic inch of gold, compared with that of a cubic inch of water or tin, is called its specific gravity. The specific gravity of bodies is usually ascertained by weighing them in distilled water.
4. Seriousness; sobriety of manners; solemnity of deportment or character.
Great Cato there, for gravity renowned.
5. Weight; enormity; atrociousness; as the gravity of an injury. [Not used.
6. In music, lowness of sound.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (physics) the force of attraction between all masses in the universe; especially the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies near its surface; "the more remote the body the less the gravity"; "the gravitation between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them"; "gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love"--Albert Einstein [syn: gravity, gravitation, gravitational attraction, gravitational force]
2: a manner that is serious and solemn [syn: graveness, gravity, sobriety, soberness, somberness, sombreness]
3: a solemn and dignified feeling [syn: gravity, solemnity] [ant: levity]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French gravité, from Latin gravitat-, gravitas, from gravis Date: 1505 1. a. dignity or sobriety of bearing b. importance, significance; especially seriousness c. a serious situation or problem 2. weight 3. a. (1) the gravitational attraction of the mass of the earth, the moon, or a planet for bodies at or near its surface (2) a fundamental physical force that is responsible for interactions which occur because of mass between particles, between aggregations of matter (as stars and planets), and between particles (as photons) and aggregations of matter, that is 10³⁹ times weaker than the strong force, and that extends over infinite distances but is dominant over macroscopic distances especially between aggregations of matter — called also gravitation, gravitational force — compare electromagnetism 2a, strong force, weak force b. acceleration of gravity c. specific gravity

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a the force that attracts a body to the centre of the earth or other celestial body. b the degree of intensity of this measured by acceleration. c gravitational force. 2 the property of having weight. 3 a importance, seriousness; the quality of being grave. b solemnity, sobriety; serious demeanour. Phrases and idioms: gravity feed the supply of material by its fall under gravity. Etymology: F gravité or L gravitas f. gravis heavy

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fault Fault, n. 1. (Elec.) A defective point in an electric circuit due to a crossing of the parts of the conductor, or to contact with another conductor or the earth, or to a break in the circuit. 2. (Geol. & Mining) A dislocation caused by a slipping of rock masses along a plane of facture; also, the dislocated structure resulting from such slipping. Note: The surface along which the dislocated masses have moved is called the fault plane. When this plane is vertical, the fault is a vertical fault; when its inclination is such that the present relative position of the two masses could have been produced by the sliding down, along the fault plane, of the mass on its upper side, the fault is a normal, or gravity, fault. When the fault plane is so inclined that the mass on its upper side has moved up relatively, the fault is then called a reverse (or reversed), thrust, or overthrust, fault. If no vertical displacement has resulted, the fault is then called a horizontal fault. The linear extent of the dislocation measured on the fault plane and in the direction of movement is the displacement; the vertical displacement is the throw; the horizontal displacement is the heave. The direction of the line of intersection of the fault plane with a horizontal plane is the trend of the fault. A fault is a strike fault when its trend coincides approximately with the strike of associated strata (i.e., the line of intersection of the plane of the strata with a horizontal plane); it is a dip fault when its trend is at right angles to the strike; an oblique fault when its trend is oblique to the strike. Oblique faults and dip faults are sometimes called cross faults. A series of closely associated parallel faults are sometimes called step faults and sometimes distributive faults.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gravity Grav"i*ty, n.; pl. Gravities. [L. gravitas, fr. gravis heavy; cf. F. gravit['e]. See Grave, a., Grief.] 1. The state of having weight; beaviness; as, the gravity of lead. 2. Sobriety of character or demeanor. ``Men of gravity and learning.'' --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Gravity is the force which causes things to drop to the ground. Arrows would continue to fly forward forever in a straight line were it not for gravity, which brings them down to earth. see also centre of gravity 2. The gravity of a situation or event is its extreme importance or seriousness. They deserve punishment which matches the gravity of their crime... Not all acts of vengeance are of equal gravity. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n 3. The gravity of someone's behaviour or speech is the extremely serious way in which they behave or speak. There was an appealing gravity to everything she said.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

grav'-i-ti (semnotes): The word, meaning properly "venerableness," "sanctity," is used in 2 Macc 3:12 of the "sanctity" of the temple. In 1Ti 3:4 the writer declares that a characteristic of a bishop should be that he has "his children in subjection with all gravity." Titus is enjoined (2:7 f) in his "doctrine" (teaching) to show "uncorruptness, gravity, sound speech (Revised Version), that cannot be condemned" (compare 1Ti 3:8). In 1Ti 2:2 the same word is translated "honesty" (the Revised Version (British and American) "gravity"), "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity." A better rendering of semnotes might be "dignity" or "dignified seriousness" (Olshausen), which quality is necessary, both on the part of parents in relation to their children, if they are to be properly trained, and on the part of preachers and teachers, if their "doctrine" is to be worthily represented. All mere lightness of demeanor (the opposite of gravity) tells against the great trusts committed to both parents and teachers (compare 1Ti 3:11; Tit 2:2). Such "gravity" or "dignified seriousness" ought indeed to characterize Christian demeanor in general, as in 1Ti 2:2 above.

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Heaviness, weight. 2. Gravitation, centripetal force, attraction of gravitation. 3. Sobriety, seriousness, sedateness, thoughtfulness, demureness. 4. Importance, moment, momentousness, weightiness, seriousness.

Moby Thesaurus

G, G suit, acuteness, adduction, affinity, allurement, apogeotropism, attractance, attraction, attractiveness, attractivity, augustness, avoirdupois, beef, beefiness, bleakness, buckram, capillarity, capillary attraction, centripetal force, ceremonial, ceremoniousness, ceremony, courtliness, darkness, deadweight, decorousness, demureness, dignifiedness, dignity, dismalness, drag, draw, dreariness, earnestness, elevation, exigency, extrinsicality, fatness, form, formality, formalization, geotropism, gloom, gloominess, grandeur, gravitation, graviton, grimness, gross weight, heaviness, heft, heftiness, immediacy, impersonality, importance, kingliness, liveweight, loftiness, long face, lordliness, magnetism, magnitude, majesty, mass, moderation, momentousness, mutual attraction, neat weight, net, net weight, no joke, no laughing matter, nobility, overbalance, overweight, pomp, pomposity, ponderability, ponderosity, ponderousness, poundage, pride of bearing, pride of place, primness, princeliness, proud bearing, pull, pulling power, regality, reserve, rigidness, ritual, rituality, sedateness, seriousness, severity, significance, sober-mindedness, soberness, sobersidedness, sobersides, sobriety, solemnity, solemnness, somberness, specific gravity, staidness, starchiness, stateliness, stiffness, stiltedness, straight face, stylization, sublimity, sympathy, temperance, thoughtfulness, tonnage, traction, tug, underweight, urgency, venerability, wearifulness, wearisomeness, weight, weightiness, worthiness