gravitational collapse
Americannoun
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the final stage of stellar evolution in which a star collapses to a final state, as a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole, when the star's nuclear reactions no longer generate enough pressure to balance the attractive force of gravity.
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the initial stage of stellar evolution in which interstellar gases and dust contract under gravity and condense into one or more stars.
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The implosion of a star or other celestial body as a result of its own gravity, resulting in a body that is many times smaller and denser than the original body.
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The process by which stars, star clusters, and galaxies form from interstellar gas under the influence of gravity. Clusters of matter are drawn together by gravitational pull, with additional matter continuing to accumulate until the growing nebula develops into even denser gaseous bodies such as stars or groups of stars.
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.
Under those conditions, it generates a repulsive force that works against gravitational collapse.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
This could mean that the parallel fields from less dense regions feed material into denser ones, where fields are strong enough to limit gravitational collapse despite the additional star-forming material, the researchers say.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 29, 2023
In this theory, scientists hypothesize that a planet like Jupiter forms when part of a circumstellar disk becomes dense and cool enough to be vulnerable to gravitational collapse.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2022
That’s compelling evidence for the gravitational collapse theory of asteroid formation, which states that the space dust that made up the planetesimals smashed together almost instantaneously.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 3, 2017
As the gravitational collapse continued, the primordial galaxies spun increasingly faster, because of the conservation of angular momentum.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
