magnet

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magnet

a thing or person that attracts: The race track is a magnet for compulsive gamblers.; a thing that has the property of attracting certain substances, such as iron or stainless steel: She puts notes on the refrigerator with a magnet.; a lodestone

Not to be confused with:

magnate – a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise: a hotel magnate; a person of distinction: a literary magnate

mag·net

(măg′nĭt)

1. An object that is surrounded by a magnetic field and that has the property, either natural or induced, of attracting iron or steel.

2. An electromagnet.

3. A person, a place, an object, or a situation that exerts attraction: a village that is a magnet for tourists.

[Middle English magnes, magnet, ultimately (probably partially via Old French magnete) from Latin magnēs, magnēt-, from Greek Magnēs (lithos), Magnesian (stone), magnet, after Magnēsiā, a region of Thessaly, or Magnēsiā, a city in ancient Lydia.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

magnet

(ˈmæɡnɪt)

1. (General Physics) a body that can attract certain substances, such as iron or steel, as a result of a magnetic field; a piece of ferromagnetic substance. See also electromagnet

2. a person or thing that exerts a great attraction

[C15: via Latin from Greek magnēs, shortened from ho Magnēs lithos the Magnesian stone. See magnesia]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mag•net

(ˈmæg nɪt)

n.

1. a body, as a piece of iron or steel, that possesses the property of attracting certain substances, as iron.

2. lodestone (defs. 1, 2).

3. a thing or person that attracts.

[1400–50; < Old French < Latin magnēt-, s. of magnēs < Greek for (hē) Mágnēs (líthos) (the stone) of Magnesia]

mag·net

(măg′nĭt)

1. A rock, piece of metal, or other solid that has the property of attracting iron or steel. A lodestone is a natural magnet, but most magnets today are made by inducing magnetism in a material such as steel or a metal alloy. Magnets have two magnetic poles, called north and south.

2. An electromagnet.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

magnet

A substance able to attract iron and which produces a magnetic field.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	magnet - (physics) a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic field bar magnet - a magnet in the form of a bar with magnetic poles at each end core - a bar of magnetic material (as soft iron) that passes through a coil and serves to increase the inductance of the coil device - an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose; "the device is small enough to wear on your wrist"; "a device intended to conserve water" electromagnet - a temporary magnet made by coiling wire around an iron core; when current flows in the coil the iron becomes a magnet field magnet - a magnet that provides a magnetic field in a dynamo or electric motor magnetic needle - a slender magnet suspended in a magnetic compass on a mounting with little friction; used to indicate the direction of the earth's magnetic pole paramagnet - magnet made of a substance whose magnetization is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field applied to it permanent magnet, static magnet - a magnet that retains its magnetism after being removed from a magnetic field magnetic pole, pole - one of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated solenoid - a coil of wire around an iron core; becomes a magnet when current passes through the coil natural philosophy, physics - the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics"
	2.	magnet - a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts; "flowers are an attractor for bees" attractive feature, attractor, attracter, attraction characteristic, feature - a prominent attribute or aspect of something; "the map showed roads and other features"; "generosity is one of his best characteristics" attention - a general interest that leads people to want to know more; "She was the center of attention" tourist attraction - a characteristic that attracts tourists

Translations

Spanish / Español

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imán

magnet

[ˈmægnɪt] N (lit, fig) → imán m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

magnet

(ˈmӕgnit) noun

a piece of iron, or of certain other materials, that attracts or repels other pieces of iron etc. imán

magˈnetic (-ˈne-) adjective

1. of, or having the powers of, or operating by means of, a magnet or magnetism. magnetic force.magnético

2. strongly attractive. a magnetic personality.magnético

magˈnetically adverb

magnéticamente

ˈmagnetism noun

1. power of attraction. his personal magnetism.magnetismo

2. (the science of) magnets and their power of attraction. the magnetism of the earth.magnetismo

ˈmagnetize, ˈmagnetise verb

1. to make magnetic. You can magnetize a piece of iron.magnetizar

2. to attract or influence strongly. She's the kind of person who can magnetize others.encantar, hechizar

magnetic field

the area in which the pull of a magnet, or thing acting like a magnet, is felt. the earth's magnetic field. campo magnético

magnetic north

the direction, either east or west of the true north, in which a magnetized needle points. norte magnético

magnet

→ imán

Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

mag·net

n. imán.

English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

References in classic literature ?

All I want is to have people love me; and as long as I own the Love Magnet, everyone I meet is sure to love me dearly."

"This, my dear," said he, impressively, "is the wonderful Love Magnet. It was given me by an Eskimo in the Sandwich Islands--where there are no sandwiches at all--and as long as I carry it every living thing I meet will love me dearly."

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This magnet is sustained by a very strong axle of adamant passing through its middle, upon which it plays, and is poised so exactly that the weakest hand can turn it.

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The contents of the boy's pockets naturally made a larger heap, and included marbles, a ball of string, an electric torch, a magnet, a small catapult, and, of course, a large pocketknife, almost to be described as a small tool box, a complex apparatus on which he seemed disposed to linger, pointing out that it included a pair of nippers, a tool for punching holes in wood, and, above all, an instrument for taking stones out of a horse's hoof.

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He was wholly absorbed in the making of a nondescript machine, a sort of crude harmonica with a clock-spring reed, a magnet, and a wire.

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Over the gateway hung a dull-colored metal magnet shaped like a horse-shoe, placed against a shield of polished gold.

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"Little modesty doesn't know what a magnet she is; but she will find it out some day," and the Doctor softly stroked the cheek that had grown rosy with pleasure at the thought of being so much loved.

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But supposing all these conjectures to be false, you cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all mankind, to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine.

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Raising his hat, the gentleman, addressing himself to the magnet that had attracted him, said--

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But heedless of all this, his mood seized Ahab, as he happened to glance upon the reel, not many hours after the magnet scene, and he remembered how his quadrant was no more, and recalled his frantic oath about the level log and line.

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The glowing stoves in the houses were like magnets. When one passed an old man, one could see nothing of his face but a red nose sticking out between a frosted beard and a long plush cap.

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And those same things that would have repelled most others, they were the very magnets that thus drew me.

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