centrifugal
- moving or directed outward from the center (opposed to centripetal).
- pertaining to or operated by centrifugal force: a centrifugal pump.
- Physiology. efferent.
- Machinery.
- a machine for separating different materials by centrifugal force; a centrifuge.
- a rotating, perforated drum holding the materials to be separated in such a machine.
Origin of centrifugal
Related Words for centrifugal
deviating, divergent, eccentric, outward, radial, spiral, diffusive, efferentExamples from the Web for centrifugal
Contemporary Examples of centrifugal
War can be a centrifugal force, pulling together disparate groups who share a common enemy.
Historical Examples of centrifugal
My talent—if that's what you call it—was centrifugal, not centripetal.
Here the centrifugal gravity was less than it had been in the hold.
In the Orbit of SaturnRoman Frederick Starzl
That was because if there were no inertia there would be no centrifugal force.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
The heavier things are, the harder they are thrown out by centrifugal force.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
It is centrifugal force that makes you slide away from the center and off at the edge.
Common ScienceCarleton W. Washburne
centrifugal
- acting, moving, or tending to move away from a centreCompare centripetal
- of, concerned with, or operated by centrifugal forcecentrifugal pump
- botany (esp of certain inflorescences) developing outwards from a centre
- physiol another word for efferent
- any device that uses centrifugal force for its action
- the rotating perforated drum in a centrifuge
Word Origin for centrifugal
Word Origin and History for centrifugal
1690s, with adjectival suffix -al (1) + Modern Latin centrifugus, 1687, coined by Sir Isaac Newton (who wrote in Latin) in "Principia" (which is written in Latin), from Latin centri- alternative comb. form of centrum "center" (see center (n.)) + fugere "to flee" (see fugitive). Centrifugal force is Newton's vis centrifuga.
centrifugal
(sĕn-trĭf′yə-gəl, -trĭf′ə-)- Moving or directed away from a center or axis.
- Transmitting nerve impulses away from the central nervous system; efferent.
centrifugal
- Moving or directed away from a center or axis, usually as a result of being spun around the center or axis.
- Operated in the manner of a centrifuge.
- Transmitting nerve impulses away from the brain or spinal cord; efferent.
- Developing or progressing outward from a center or axis, as in the growth of plant structures. For example, in a centrifugal inflorescence such as a cyme, the flowers in the center or tip open first while those on the edge open last. Compare centripetal.