Centripetal

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Centripetal \Cen*trip"e*tal\, a. [L. centrum center + petere to
     move toward.]
     1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Bot.)


        (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and
            proceeding in order towards the summit.
        (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the
            fruit, as some embryos.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward
        its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone.
        --R. Owen.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Centripetal force} (Mech.), a force whose direction is
        towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round
        the sun, the center of the system, See {Centrifugal
        force}, under {Centrifugal}.
  
     {Centripetal impression} (Physiol.), an impression (sensory)
        transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the
        body inwards, to the central organ.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  centripetal
       adj 1: tending to move toward a center; "centripetal force" [ant: {centrifugal}]
       2: tending to unify [syn: {unifying(a)}]
       3: of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing
          toward the central nervous system; "sensory neurons" [syn:
           {receptive}, {sensory(a)}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  19 Moby Thesaurus words for "centripetal":
     approaching, asymptotic, centrolineal, concentrating, concurrent,
     confluent, confocal, connivent, consolidating, converging, focal,
     meeting, mutually approaching, radial, radiating, tangent,
     tangential, unifying, uniting