centripetal : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: centripetal	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for centripetal
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
centripetal adj tending to move toward a center; "centripetal force" Antonym(s): centrifugal tending to unify Synonym(s): centripetal, unifying(a) of a nerve fiber or impulse originating outside and passing toward the central nervous system; "sensory neurons" Synonym(s): centripetal, receptive, sensory(a)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Centripetal \Centrip"etal\, a. [L. centrum center + petere to move toward.] 1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center. 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. 3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone. --R. Owen. {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.