GRAVITY • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Gravity

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/grˈævəti/ /grˈævɪti/ Listen

noun

Gravity n. (pl. gravities)

The state of having weight; beaviness; as, the gravity of lead.

Sobriety of character or demeanor. "Men of gravity and learning."

Importance, significance, dignity, etc; hence, seriousness; enormity; as, the gravity of an offense. "They derive an importance from... the gravity of the place where they were uttered."

(Physics) The tendency of a mass of matter toward a center of attraction; esp., the tendency of a body toward the center of the earth; terrestrial gravitation.

(Mus.) Lowness of tone; opposed to acuteness.

Center of gravity See under Center.

Gravity battery, See Battery, n., 4.

Specific gravity, the ratio of the weight of a body to the weight of an equal volume of some other body taken as the standard or unit. This standard is usually water for solids and liquids, and air for gases. Thus, 19, the specific gravity of gold, expresses the fact that, bulk for bulk, gold is nineteen times as heavy as water.

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Etymology of 'Gravity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Gravity" Quotes from Famous Books

... how life arises, and likewise to a certain extent Asa Gray's remark that natural selection is not a vera causa, I was much interested by finding accidentally in Brewster's 'Life of Newton,' that Leibnitz objected to the law of gravity because Newton could not show what gravity itself is. As it has chanced, I have used in letters this very same argument, little knowing that any one had really thus objected to the law of gravity. Newton answers by saying that it is philosophy to make out the movements of a clock, though you ...

— The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II • Francis Darwin

... were not slow to respond to the altered mood of their host; for it was merely the reflection of his sullen gravity that had eclipsed their own vivacity. The instant, therefore, that he led the way, the hall began to resound with jest and laughter. The poet, with some humiliation, which he endeavored to conceal beneath an affectation of wounded ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol 6, No 5, November 1864 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... current, that was winding slowly, like Vesuvian lava, on the line of least resistance. Dolly followed his example, filling a garment she called her pinafore with whatever mould or debris was attainable, and bringing it with much gravity and some pride to help on the structure of the dyke. A fiction, rather felt than spoken, got in the air that Sapps Court and its inhabitants would be overwhelmed as by Noah's flood, except for the exertions of Dave and his sister. ...

— When Ghost Meets Ghost • William Frend De Morgan

... girl sat paralysed with terror as her brain grasped the full gravity of her position. The wind had risen, and blowing up river, kicked up waves that struck the boat with sledgehammer force and broke over the gunwales. Overhead the thunder roared incessantly, while about her the ...

— Prairie Flowers • James B. Hendryx

... level of the tank. The steam tubes in a non-lifting injector are different and it will not raise the water, but merely force it into the boiler. A non-lifting injector must be placed below the level of the water in the tank so the water will flow to it by gravity. ...

— The Traveling Engineers' Association - To Improve The Locomotive Engine Service of American Railroads • Anonymous

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