FromLatinattractus, past participle ofattrahere(“to draw to, attract”), fromad(“to”) +trahere(“to draw”).
attract (third-person singular simple presentattracts,present participleattracting,simple past and past participleattracted)
- (transitive) Topulltowardwithouttouching.
A magnetattracts iron filings.
1713,W[illiam] Derham,Physico-Theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation. […], London: […] W[illiam] Innys, […],→OCLC:All bodies, and all the parts of bodies, mutuallyattract themselves, and one another.
- (transitive) Todraw bymoral,emotional orsexualinfluence; toengage orfix, as themind,attention, etc.; toinvite orallure.
toattract admirers
Advertising is designed toattract customers.
His big smile and brown eyes instantlyattracted me.
1667,John Milton, “Book V”, inParadise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […];[a]nd by Robert Boulter […];[a]nd Matthias Walker, […],→OCLC; republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […],1873,→OCLC:Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.
- (transitive) Toincur.
Using the minibar in a hotel roomattracts additional charges.
Translations to be checked
- “attract”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “attract”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
- “attract”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
