gravity

The definition of gravity is the force that causes everything that goes up to fall back down to Earth or is a word used to describe seriousness.

(noun)

  1. An example of gravity is when you throw an apple up in the air and it falls to the ground.
  2. An example of gravity is a very serious illness.

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.

See gravity in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. gravities

  1. the state or condition of being grave; esp.,
    1. solemnity or sedateness of manner or character; earnestness
    2. danger or threat; ominous quality: the gravity of his illness
    3. seriousness, as of a situation
  2. weight; heaviness
  3. lowness of musical pitch
  4. gravitation, esp. terrestrial gravitation; force that tends to draw all bodies in the earth's sphere toward the center of the earth

Origin: L gravitas, weight, heaviness < gravis, heavy: see grave

adjective

operated by the force of gravity

See gravity in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Physics
    a. The natural force of attraction exerted by a celestial body, such as Earth, upon objects at or near its surface, tending to draw them toward the center of the body.
    b. The natural force of attraction between any two massive bodies, which is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
    c. Gravitation.
  2. Grave consequence; seriousness or importance: They are still quite unaware of the gravity of their problems.
  3. Solemnity or dignity of manner.

Origin:

Origin: French gravité, heaviness

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Latin gravitās

Origin: , from gravis, heavy; see gwerə-1 in Indo-European roots

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See gravity in Ologies

Gravity

See also physics.

baragnosis

Medicine. the absence of the power to recognize weight through the senses; the absence of barognosis.

barognosis

Medicine. the conscious perception of weight, especially through cutaneous and muscular nerves.

barology

Archaic. a branch of physics that studied weight and its relationship to gravity.

barophobia

an abnormal fear of gravity.

geotaxis

the movement of an organism in response to the force of gravity.

geotropism

Botany. the response of a plant to the force of gravity. —geotropic, adj.

Hutchinsonianism

the theories of the 18th-century Yorkshireman John Hutchinson, which included a rejection of Newton’s theory of gravitation. See also bible; theology. —Hutchinsonian, adj.

levity

a hypothetical force, opposed to gravity, once believed to be a property inherent in certain bodies or materials.

telekinesis

the production of motion in a body, apparently without the use of material force, a power long claimed by mediums and magicians. Also called teleportation.telekinetic, adj.

tidology

the science or theory of tides.

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