gravitational wave

American  

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.

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gravitational wave British  

noun

1. physics another name for gravity wave

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Etymology

Origin of gravitational wave

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

However, a fresh analysis of the gravitational wave event GW200105 revealed that this system was still traveling on an oval shaped path shortly before the two objects combined.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2026

Each gravitational wave is named for the date it is detected, and the LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA team publicly announced this one in September 2025.

From Science Daily • Feb. 1, 2026

It is the clearest gravitational wave signal ever recorded from a pair of merging black holes, giving researchers an unusually sharp tool for testing Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, called general relativity.

From Science Daily • Feb. 1, 2026

Once this software detects a gravitational wave signal, it sends out alerts to subscribers, which usually include astronomers or astrophysicists, to communicate where the signal was located in the sky.

From Science Daily • Apr. 26, 2024

New observations in the next few years, particularly by gravitational wave detectors like LIGO, should enable us to discover the origin of the gamma ray bursts.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking