gravitational wave

American  

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.

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gravitational wave British  

noun

1. physics another name for gravity wave

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Etymology

Origin of gravitational wave

First recorded in 1895–1900

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gravitational wave

Einstein's theory, meanwhile, treats gravity as a property of space and time itself -- it can bend, flatten, and support waves that travel through it, as gravitational wave detectors have confirmed.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

By tracking many pulsars over long periods, international research teams have found evidence for a stochastic gravitational wave background at nanohertz frequencies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Because of this cycle, the validated gravitational wave catalog, including source properties and other measurements, is typically updated and shared with the scientific community about every six months.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026

Scientists at the University of Glasgow are celebrating the release of a massive new catalog of gravitational wave detections that marks another major step forward for gravitational wave astronomy.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 2, 2026

New observations in the next few years, particularly by gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, should enable us to discover the origin of the gamma ray bursts.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

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