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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Traction \Trac"tion\, noun [L. trahere, tractum, to draw: cf. F. traction.]
1. The act of drawing, or the state of being drawn; as, the traction of a muscle.
2. Specifically, the act of drawing a body along a plane by motive power, as the drawing of a carriage by men or horses, the towing of a boat by a tug.
3. Attraction; a drawing toward. [R.]
4. The adhesive friction of a wheel on a rail, a rope on a pulley, or the like; as, the car is stuck in the snow because it can;t get any traction. --Knight. [1913 Webster +PJC]
{Angle of traction} (Mech.), the angle made with a given plane by the line of direction in which a tractive force acts.
{Traction engine}, a locomotive for drawing vehicles on highways or in the fields.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
traction
noun
1: the friction between a body and the surface on which it moves (as between an automobile tire and the road) [syn: {grip}, {adhesive friction}]
2: (orthopedics) the act of pulling on a bone or limb (as in a fracture) to relieve pressure or align parts in a special way during healing; "his leg was in traction for several days"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
42 Moby Thesaurus words for "traction": adduction, adhesion, advantage, affinity, allurement, attractance, attraction, attractiveness, attractivity, capillarity, capillary attraction, centripetal force, draft, drag, draw, drawing, drayage, extraction, foothold, footing, friction, gravitation, gravity, grip, haulage, hauling, heaving, hold, magnetism, mutual attraction, pull, pulling, pulling power, purchase, sympathy, toehold, towage, towing, tractive power, tug, tug-of-war, tugging
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |