attracted; attracting; attracts
: to cause to approach or adhere: such as
a
: to pull to or draw toward oneself or itself
A magnet attracts iron.
b
: to draw by appeal to natural or excited interest, emotion, or aesthetic sense : entice
attract attention
The museum attracts visitors.
: to exercise attraction
Opposites attract.
at·trac·tor
ə-ˈtrak-tər also -ˌtȯr
plural -s
1
or less commonly attracter
: a person or thing that attracts someone or something
ə-ˈtrak-tər
… it is far and away the best attractor of the whitetail deer I have ever known.—Bill Geagan, Field & Stream, December 1970
… the flower spikes are great hummingbird and butterfly attracters.—Kathy Huber, Houston Chronicle, 12 Nov. 2011
2
: a state or group of states of a dynamic physical or mathematical system toward which the system trends
Students of chaos have clung to the notion that chaotic systems retain some shreds of order. The shreds manifest themselves in the form of an attractor, a pattern of behavior toward which the system periodically settles.—Philip Yam, Scientific American, March 1994
Such waves are termed internal gravity waves. They permeate both the atmosphere and the ocean, and are very important for their internal dynamics on small to medium scales, where they transport momentum and cause local mixing. They may also exist in closed containers, where they converge on 'attractors'—closed curves determined by the geometry of the container—and then propagate energy along them.—Peter G. Baines, Nature, 7 Aug. 1997
see also strange attractor
Cite this Entry
“Attract.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/attract. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
