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Centrifugal and Science
Centrifugal force is what keeps a string with a ball on the end taut when you whirl it around. A centrifuge is a machine that uses centrifugal force. At the end of a washing machine's cycle, it becomes a weak and simple centrifuge as it whirls the water out of your clothes. Centrifuges hundreds of thousands of times as powerful are essential to nuclear technology and drug manufacturing. Part of an astronaut's training occurs in a centrifuge that generates force equal to several times the force of gravity (about like a washing machine) to get them used to the forces they'll encounter in a real space mission.
Examples of centrifugal in a Sentence
Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 16 Sep. 2022
Made from food-grade stainless steel, the 65-pound PURE does, as the name suggests, require more steps than a typical centrifugal or masticating juicer.
—Alyson Sheppard, Robb Report, 5 Aug. 2021
That’s what centrifugal means—to flee (fugere) the center.
—Rhett Allain, Wired, 11 Apr. 2020
Five years ago, his kits for Porsche 911s and BMW M3s, which employed a Vortec centrifugal supercharger, were the most popular.
—Scott Oldham, Car and Driver, 21 Feb. 2020
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Cite this Entry
“Centrifugal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/centrifugal. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
centrifugal
adjective
