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magnetic south

American  
[mag-net-ik sauth] / mægˈnɛt ɪk ˈsaʊθ /

noun

  1. south as indicated by a magnetic compass.

magnetic south Scientific  

  1. The direction toward which the south-seeking arrow of a compass points.

  2. ◆ The magnetic south pole is the southern pole of the Earth's magnetic field and changes slightly in response to variations in the Earth's magnetism. The current magnetic south pole is located in the Antarctic Ocean.

  3. Compare geographic south

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.

Sylvain Bourbousson compensated for the pull of the magnetic south off this drop.

From Time Magazine Archive

Magnetic north is 0�, magnetic east is 90�, magnetic south 180� and so on.

From Time Magazine Archive

Dr. Mawson had left it to my discretion, in the event of any great change occurring in the declination, to go either true or magnetic south.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

For these reasons the course was maintained magnetic south.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir

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.