Advertisement

Advertisement

gravitational wave

noun

, Astronomy, Physics.
  1. (in general relativity) a propagating wave of gravitational energy produced by accelerating masses, especially during catastrophic events, as the gravitational collapse of massive stars.


gravitational wave

noun

  1. physics another name for gravity wave
“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


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of gravitational wave1

First recorded in 1895–1900
Discover More

Example Sentences

The gravitational waves produced by the merger took 7 billion years to reach us.

Beginning in the 1950s, when others were still arguing whether gravitational waves existed in reality, physicist Joseph Weber sunk his career into trying to detect them.

Peter and Sharon rented a house with a big avocado tree when they moved to California, in 2008, for Peter’s dream postdoc studying gravitational waves at CalTech.

The more distant a collision is from Earth, the longer it takes the gravitational waves to arrive.

The main focus of my career has been the detection of gravitational waves.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


gravitational redshiftgravitative