friction

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The rubbing of one object or surface against another.

   Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.

2. 2
   noun

   A force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two bodies in contact.

   Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever, unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.

3. 3
   noun

   Massage of the body to restore circulation.

   The frictions should at first be very gentle, and performed with a view to restore heat, and not to force the blood towards the heart, which in drowned persons is already too much distended with it.

4. 4
   noun

   Conflict, as between persons having dissimilar ideas or interests; clash.

   Thais have been watching for signs of friction between the armed forces and the monarchy—the country's two biggest sources of political power—since the death in October of Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Vajiralongkorn's long-reigning father.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Friction entered English in the mid-16th century and comes from Latin fricare, “to rub,” the same source as the verb fray meaning “to wear or unravel by rubbing.”

From Middle French friction and directly from Latin frictionem, nom. frictio (“a rubbing, rubbing down”).

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary