bar magnet
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of bar magnet
First recorded in 1820–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In magnetic materials, each atom behaves like a tiny bar magnet because of a property called atomic spin.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 12, 2026
If the interior is electrically conducting, a thick layer of convecting material will generate a dipole magnetic field similar to that of a bar magnet.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024
Because Earth’s magnetic field is dipolar like a bar magnet and aligned roughly perpendicular to our world’s rotation, geomagnetic field lines extend most prominently from the vicinity of our planet’s North and South poles.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 13, 2023
During the sun’s quiet periods — solar activity varies on an 11-year cycle, from comparatively calm to hyperactive — the sun’s magnetic field possesses this bar magnet configuration.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
Have you ever seen a small bar magnet placed within the field of attraction of a large electromagnet?
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 1930 by Bates, Harry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
