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Synonyms

tractile

American  
[trak-til, -tahyl] / ˈtræk tɪl, -taɪl /

adjective

  1. capable of being drawn out in length; ductile.

  2. capable of being drawn.


tractile British  
/ ˈtræktaɪl, trækˈtɪlɪtɪ /

adjective

  1. capable of being drawn out; ductile

"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

Other Word Forms

  • tractility noun

Etymology

Origin of tractile

1620–30; < Latin tract ( us ) ( traction ) + -ile

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.

It will of its own accord dispose itself as an inclined plane, and receiving obliquely the reaction of the air, it transfers into tractile force a part of the vertical impulsion it has received.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

In the dog, the claws are not tractile.

From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard

The error in question is, that hard-surfaced wheels will not bite on a moderately rough surface, sufficiently to give an efficient tractile power.

From Scientific American, Volume XXIV., No. 12, March 18, 1871 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

Tractil′ity, the quality of being tractile: ductility; Trac′tion, act of drawing or state of being drawn; Trac′tion-en′gine, a steam vehicle for hauling heavy weights along a road, &c.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

It is "a concourse or concordancy of both," and to emphasize his meaning he adds, "not as if there were an ἑλκτικὴ δύναμις but a συνδρομή" not a tractile power, but a running together.

From On the magnet, magnetick bodies also, and on the great magnet the earth a new physiology, demonstrated by many arguments & experiments by Gilbert, William