magnet
Etymology

From Middle English magnete, via Old French magnete, Latin magnēs, from Ancient Greek , either after the Lydian city Magnesia ad Sipylum (modern-day Manisa, Turkey), or after the Greek region of Μαγνησία (whence came the colonist who founded the city in Lydia).

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈmæɡnət/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈmæɡnɪt/
Noun

magnet (plural magnets)

  1. A piece of material that attracts some metals by magnetism.
  2. (informal, figuratively, often, in combination) A person or thing that attracts what is denoted by the preceding noun.
    He always had a girl on his arm – he's a bit of a babe magnet.
    • 2022, Steve Mann, Easy Peasy Cocker Spaniel:
      Regular baths will help keep your dog clean and fresh-smelling. The frequency will depend entirely on your own preferences as well as how much of a mud-magnet your dog is!
  3. (internet) Short for magnet link.
    • 2019, David Adams, Ann-Kathrin Maier, Big Seven Study (2016): 7 open source Crypto-Messengers to be compared, page 142:
      Magnets are thus used to create a package of cryptologic information and bundling[sic] it together.
Translations


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