centrifugal force

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noun

an outward force on a body rotating about an axis, assumed equal and opposite to the centripetal force and postulated to account for the phenomena seen by an observer in the rotating body.

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In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of centrifugal force

First recorded in 1715–25

Words nearby centrifugal force

centrifugal, centrifugal box, centrifugal brake, centrifugal casting, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal force, centrifugalize, centrifugal pump, centrifugate, centrifuge, centring

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use centrifugal force in a sentence

“We’re always falling apart in this country, and now we are in an era of centrifugal forces,” Cantor said.
After Pearl Harbor and 9/11, Americans came together. Have we lost that capacity?|Marc Fisher|September 27, 2021|Washington Post
We feel inertia as something that doesn’t exist — centrifugal force.
Staying grounded in space requires artificial gravity|Bethany Brookshire|May 4, 2021|Science News For Students
More concept than country, Pakistan strained under the centrifugal forces of history, identity and faith.
Revisiting Pakistan’s tangle of contradictions and violence|Bilal Qureshi|December 11, 2020|Washington Post
The spin also creates a centrifugal force that might help lift particles into space.
December’s stunning Geminid meteor shower is born from a humble asteroid|Ken Croswell|December 2, 2020|Science News

War can be a centrifugal force, pulling together disparate groups who share a common enemy.
ISIS’s Secret Allies|Jacob Siegel|June 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Loose gear was rolling and sliding along underfoot, propelled forward by centrifugal force.
Greylorn|John Keith Laumer
The cylinder walls are oiled by the spray of lubricant thrown off the revolving crank-shaft by centrifugal force.
Aviation Engines|Victor Wilfred Pag
The sharper the turn, the greater the effect of the centrifugal force, and therefore the steeper should be the "bank."
The Aeroplane Speaks|H. Barber
In society there is both a centripetal and a centrifugal force; the centripetal chiefly human, the centrifugal chiefly Divine.
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Joshua|William Garden Blaikie
This is the sense in which the term "force" is employed in the expression "centrifugal force."
Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XXI., No. 531, March 6, 1886|Various

British Dictionary definitions for centrifugal force

centrifugal force

noun

a fictitious force that can be thought of as acting outwards on any body that rotates or moves along a curved path

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

Scientific definitions for centrifugal force

centrifugal force

An effect that seems to cause an object moving in a curve to be pushed away from the curve's center. Centrifugal force is not a true force but is actually the effect of inertia, in that the moving object's natural tendency is to move in a straight line. See Note at centripetal force.

Cultural definitions for centrifugal force

centrifugal force

[ (sen-trif-yuh-guhl, sen-trif-uh-guhl) ]

A force that tends to move objects away from the center in a system undergoing circular motion. Centrifugal force keeps the water in a whirling bucket from spilling or throws a rider in a car against the door when the car goes around a sharp curve. Centrifugal force is actually a form of inertia.