Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

centre of mass

British  

noun

  1. the point at which the mass of a system could be concentrated without affecting the behaviour of the system under the action of external linear forces

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

It has been at the centre of mass litigation in the United States brought mostly by residential gardeners claiming the weedkiller caused their cancer.

From Reuters Jun. 18, 2022

Dr Kipping’s technique relies on the fact that moons do not simply revolve around their host planets; planets also revolve around their moons—or, rather, the two bodies both revolve around their common centre of mass.

From Economist Nov. 8, 2012

These are a set of six tungsten blocks that the rover's capsule ejected to shift its centre of mass and help guide its flight through the atmosphere.

From BBC Aug. 8, 2012

The power of a man can be measured to-day by the mile, the number of miles between him and the city; that is, between him and what the city stands for—the centre of mass.

From Crowds A Moving-Picture of Democracy by Lee, Gerald Stanley

On this hypothesis, the chemical atom is to be regarded as a microcosm, a sort of a solar system in miniature, the component electrons being capable of vibration relatively to the atomic centre of mass.

From Hertzian Wave Wireless Telegraphy by Fleming, John Ambrose

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training