gravitational wave
noun
: a disturbance in space-time in the form of a wave that propagates the gravitational field
Gravitational waves are a natural offshoot of the rubber-sheet construction of general relativity. Just as a massive object sitting on the fabric of spacetime creates a dimple, so moving or changing objects, under certain conditions, create wrinkles in the fabric. Those wrinkles, tiny distortions in spacetime, zoom away at the speed of light. Because these gravitational waves carry energy, anything emitting them will lose a tiny bit of its speed.—
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The center has been involved in some of the most famous breakthroughs of this century, such as the collaboration that detected the first evidence of gravitational waves and won the Nobel prize in 2017.
—Andrew Montequin, jsonline.com, 24 July 2025
Construction began in 1994 and took more than 20 years, including a four-year shutdown to improve the detectors, before LIGO detected its first gravitational wave in 2015: a ripple in the space-time fabric coming from the faraway collision of a pair of black holes.
—Quanta Magazine, 21 July 2025
The frequency of gravitational waves is determined by the energy of the collision that gives rise to them.
—Tereza Pultarova, IEEE Spectrum, 16 July 2025
This detection came exactly a century after Einstein had first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 July 2025
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Andrew Montequin, jsonline.com, 24 July 2025
Construction began in 1994 and took more than 20 years, including a four-year shutdown to improve the detectors, before LIGO detected its first gravitational wave in 2015: a ripple in the space-time fabric coming from the faraway collision of a pair of black holes.
—Quanta Magazine, 21 July 2025
The frequency of gravitational waves is determined by the energy of the collision that gives rise to them.
—Tereza Pultarova, IEEE Spectrum, 16 July 2025
This detection came exactly a century after Einstein had first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his 1915 theory of gravity, general relativity.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for gravitational wave
Cite this Entry
“Gravitational wave.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravitational%20wave. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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