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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



... damage was done, but those having offices in tall buildings had an unpleasant experience which they will not soon forget. A peculiar phenomenon accompanying this seismic disturbance was the variation of the magnetic needle by over eighty degrees from north to east and an extraordinary rise and fall of the barometer. All wireless communication had to be abandoned, owing to the ionizing of the atmosphere, and up to the time this edition went ...
— The Man Who Rocked the Earth • Arthur Train
... show their direction. To finish the definition of the field, it remains to determine the direction of these lines of force. Such direction is, by definition, and conventionally, that in which the north pole of a small magnetic needle, free to move in the field, would travel. It results from this definition that the lines of force issue from the north pole of a magnet and re-enter the south pole, since the north pole of a magnet repels the north pole of a needle, ...
— Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XIX, No. 470, Jan. 3, 1885 • Various
... transmitted by shafting or belting from one part of a factory to another. An electric current meter may be made by giving inclination to the disk, which is for this purpose made exceedingly small and delicate, by means of a heavy magnetic needle deflected by the current. This, like Edison's, is a direction meter; but a meter in which no regard is paid to the direction of the current can be made by help of an iron armature of such a shape that the force with which it is attracted ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882 • Various
... profitably interpreted by contraries, a process of which the great Tycho Brahe is said to have availed himself in the case of the little Lackwit, who used to sit and mutter at his feet while he was studying. A mind of this sort we may compare to a magnetic needle, the poles of which have been suddenly reversed by a flash of lightning, or other more obscure accident of nature. It may be safely concluded, that to those whose judgment or information he respected, Sir Alexander Ball did not content himself with giving access and attention. ...
— Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit etc. • by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
... his experiments several days successively until he became familiar with the operation of the machinery, and the movements of the boat. He found that she was as obedient to her helm under water, as any boat could be on the surface, and that the magnetic needle traversed as well in the one as in ...
— Hidden Treasures - Why Some Succeed While Others Fail • Harry A. Lewis


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