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Magnetic needle   /mægnˈɛtɪk nˈidəl/   Listen
adjective
Magnetical, Magnetic  adj.  
1.
Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic bar of iron; a magnetic needle.
2.
Of or pertaining to, or characterized by, the earth's magnetism; as, the magnetic north; the magnetic meridian.
3.
Capable of becoming a magnet; susceptible to magnetism; as, the magnetic metals.
4.
Endowed with extraordinary personal power to excite the feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing attachment. "She that had all magnetic force alone."
5.
Having, susceptible to, or induced by, animal magnetism, so called; hypnotic; as, a magnetic sleep. See Magnetism. (Archaic)
Magnetic amplitude, Magnetic attraction, Magnetic dip, Magnetic induction, etc. See under Amplitude, Attraction, etc.
Magnetic battery, a combination of bar or horseshoe magnets with the like poles adjacent, so as to act together with great power.
Magnetic compensator, a contrivance connected with a ship's compass for compensating or neutralizing the effect of the iron of the ship upon the needle.
Magnetic curves, curves indicating lines of magnetic force, as in the arrangement of iron filings between the poles of a powerful magnet.
Magnetic elements.
(a)
(Chem. Physics) Those elements, as iron, nickel, cobalt, chromium, manganese, etc., which are capable or becoming magnetic.
(b)
(Physics) In respect to terrestrial magnetism, the declination, inclination, and intensity.
(c)
See under Element.
Magnetic fluid, the hypothetical fluid whose existence was formerly assumed in the explanations of the phenomena of magnetism; no longer considered a meaningful concept.
Magnetic iron, or Magnetic iron ore. (Min.) Same as Magnetite.
Magnetic needle, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the surveyor's.
Magnetic poles, the two points in the opposite polar regions of the earth at which the direction of the dipping needle is vertical.
Magnetic pyrites. See Pyrrhotite.
Magnetic storm (Terrestrial Physics), a disturbance of the earth's magnetic force characterized by great and sudden changes.
magnetic tape (Electronics), a ribbon of plastic material to which is affixed a thin layer of powder of a material which can be magnetized, such as ferrite. Such tapes are used in various electronic devices to record fluctuating voltages, which can be used to represent sounds, images, or binary data. Devices such as audio casette recorders, videocasette recorders, and computer data storage devices use magnetic tape as an inexpensive medium to store data. Different magnetically susceptible materials are used in such tapes.
Magnetic telegraph, a telegraph acting by means of a magnet. See Telegraph.



noun
magnetic needle  n.  A slender magnet suspended in a magnetic compass on a low-friction mounting; used to indicate the direction of the earth's magnetic pole.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Magnetic needle" Quotes from Famous Books



... a cradle and read the secret message traced by a divine hand and wrapped up in that bit of clay, any more than you can see the North Star in the magnetic needle. God has loaded the needle of that young life so it will point to the star of its own destiny; and though you may pull it around by artificial advice and unnatural education, and compel it to point to the star which presides ...
— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden

... be depended on when visible. On a cloudy day or night the bark of the trees would serve as a guide; since the green, mossy side was almost invariably toward the north. Besides, Paul knew how to make a compass out of his watch, though he generally carried a real magnetic needle in ...
— The Banner Boy Scouts on a Tour - The Mystery of Rattlesnake Mountain • George A. Warren

... to overestimate distances is almost universal among explorers who set the first distances, and it ought to be reckoned as a factor of error, like the dip of the magnetic needle. But they did their best. And we want to remember that they were the first white men to come up this river, whereas we are ...
— The Young Alaskans on the Missouri • Emerson Hough

... which had been finally settled between them—for all that they had once been bitter enemies, and were by disposition and development as radically opposite as the positive and negative points of a magnetic needle, Frank Merriwell and Bartley Hodge ...
— Frank Merriwell's Chums • Burt L. Standish

... and in about four hours and a half I found the balloon sufficiently inflated. I attached the car and put all my implements in it—a telescope, a barometer, a thermometer, an [v]electrometer, a compass, a magnetic needle, a seconds watch, a bell, and other things. I had further procured a globe of glass, exhausted of air and carefully closed with a stopper, not forgetting a special apparatus for condensing air, a copious supply of water, and a large quantity ...
— The Literary World Seventh Reader • Various


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