gravitational wave

noun

, Astronomy, Physics.

1. (in general relativity) a propagating wave of gravitational energy produced by accelerating masses, especially during catastrophic events, as the gravitational collapse of massive stars.

gravitational wave

noun

1. See gravity wave
   physics another name for gravity wave

Word History and Origins

Origin of gravitational wave¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

The gravitational waves produced by the merger took 7 billion years to reach us.

From Science News

Beginning in the 1950s, when others were still arguing whether gravitational waves existed in reality, physicist Joseph Weber sunk his career into trying to detect them.

From Science News

Peter and Sharon rented a house with a big avocado tree when they moved to California, in 2008, for Peter’s dream postdoc studying gravitational waves at CalTech.

From ProPublica

The more distant a collision is from Earth, the longer it takes the gravitational waves to arrive.

From Science News

The main focus of my career has been the detection of gravitational waves.

From MIT Technology Review