'Centripetal' definitions:
Definition of 'centripetal'
From: WordNet
adjective
Tending to move toward a center; "centripetal force" [ant: centrifugal]
adjective
Tending to unify [syn: centripetal, unifying(a)]
adjective
Of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing toward the central nervous system; "sensory neurons" [syn: centripetal, receptive, sensory(a)]
Definition of 'Centripetal'
From: GCIDE
- Centripetal \Cen*trip"e*tal\, a. [L. centrum center + petere to move toward.]
- 1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the summit. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone. --R. Owen. [1913 Webster]
- Centripetal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round the sun, the center of the system, See {Centrifugal force}, under Centrifugal.
- Centripetal impression (Physiol.), an impression (sensory) transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the body inwards, to the central organ. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'centripetal'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- approaching,
- asymptotic,
- centrolineal,
- concentrating,
- concurrent,
- confluent,
- confocal,
- connivent,
- consolidating,
- converging,
- focal,
- meeting,
- mutually approaching,
- radial,
- radiating,
- tangent,
- tangential,
- unifying,
- uniting