Centrifugal

Centrifugal
Centrifugal Cen*trif"u*gal, a. [L. centrum center + fugere to flee.] 1. Tending, or causing, to recede from the center. [1913 Webster]

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the summit, and later at the base, as a flower cluster. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the sides of the fruit, as some embryos. [1913 Webster]

{Centrifugal force} (Mech.), a force whose direction is from a center. [1913 Webster]

Note: When a body moves in a circle with uniform velocity, a force must act on the body to keep it in the circle without change of velocity. The direction of this force is towards the center of the circle. If this force is applied by means of a string to the body, the string will be in a state of tension. To a person holding the other end of the string, this tension will appear to be directed toward the body as if the body had a tendency to move away from the center of the circle which it is describing. Hence this latter force is often called centrifugal force. The force which really acts on the body being directed towards the center of the circle is called centripetal force, and in some popular treatises the centripetal and centrifugal forces are described as opposing and balancing each other. But they are merely the different aspects of the same stress. --Clerk Maxwell. [1913 Webster]

{Centrifugal impression} (Physiol.), an impression (motor) sent from a nerve center outwards to a muscle or muscles by which motion is produced.

{Centrifugal machine}, A machine for expelling water or other fluids from moist substances, or for separating liquids of different densities by centrifugal action; a whirling table.

{Centrifugal pump}, a machine in which water or other fluid is lifted and discharged through a pipe by the energy imparted by a wheel or blades revolving in a fixed case. Some of the largest and most powerful pumps are of this kind. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • centrifugal — CENTRIFUGÁL, Ă, centrifugali, e, adj. Care tinde să se depărteze de centru; centrifug (1). – Din germ. zentrifugal. Trimis de valeriu, 03.03.2003. Sursa: DEX 98  CENTRIFUGÁL adj. v. centrifug. Trimis de siveco, 13.09.2007. Sursa: Sinonime … …   Dicționar Român

  • centrifugal — centrifugal, centripetal are stressed on the third and second syllables respectively. Their meanings are complementary: centrifugal relates to movement away from a centre and centripetal to movement towards a centre. Centrifugal occurs more often …   Modern English usage

  • centrifugal — [sen trif′ə gəl, sen trif′yə gəl; ] chiefly Brit [ sen΄tri fyo͞o′gəl] adj. [< ModL centrifugus (coined by NEWTON2 Sir Isaac < CENTRI + L fugere, to flee: see FUGITIVE) + AL] 1. moving or tending to move away from a center …   English World dictionary

  • Centrifugal — Cen*trif u*gal, n. A centrifugal machine. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • centrifugal — c.1721, with adj. suffix AL (Cf. al) (1) + Mod.L. centrifugus, 1687, coined by Sir Isaac Newton in Principia, from L. centri alternative comb. form of centrum center (see CENTER (Cf. center)) + fugere to flee (see FUGITIVE (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

  • Centrifugāl — (v. lat.), was von dem Mittelpunkt sich abwendet; daher Centrifŭga radicŭla (Centrifugales Würzelchen), Würzelchen im Keime, dessen Spitze von der Achse der Frucht weggewendet ist, absolut bei einfacher Frucht, relativ bei[815] zusammengesetzter; …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • centrifugal — [adj] radiating from a central point deviating, diffusive, divergent, diverging, eccentric, efferent, outward, radial, spiral, spreading; concepts 581,584 Ant. centripetal …   New thesaurus

  • centrifugal — ► ADJECTIVE Physics ▪ moving away from a centre. DERIVATIVES centrifugally adverb. ORIGIN from Latin centrum centre + fugus fleeing …   English terms dictionary

  • centrifugal — I. adjective Etymology: New Latin centrifugus, from centr + Latin fugere to flee more at fugitive Date: circa 1721 1. proceeding or acting in a direction away from a center or axis 2. using or acting by centrifugal force < a centrifugal pump > 3 …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • centrifugal — centrifugally, adv. /sen trif yeuh geuhl, euh geuhl/, adj. 1. moving or directed outward from the center (opposed to centripetal). 2. pertaining to or operated by centrifugal force: a centrifugal pump. 3. Physiol. efferent. n. 4. Mach. a. a… …   Universalium

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