traction

Definitions


[ˈtrakʃn], (Noun)

Definitions:
- the action of drawing or pulling something over a surface, especially a road or track
(e.g: a primitive vehicle used in animal traction)

- the grip of a tyre on a road or a wheel on a rail
(e.g: his car hit a patch of ice and lost traction)

- the extent to which an idea, product, etc. gains popularity or acceptance
(e.g: analysts predicted that the technology would rapidly gain traction in the corporate mobile market)

- the application of a sustained pull on a limb or muscle, especially in order to maintain the position of a fractured bone or to correct a deformity
(e.g: his leg is in traction)


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English (denoting contraction, such as that of a muscle): from French, or from medieval Latin tractio(n-), from Latin trahere ‘draw, pull’. Current senses date from the early 19th century




definition by Oxford Dictionaries