traction

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈtrækʃən/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    The grip or friction between a moving body (such as a wheel or tire) and the surface on which it moves.; Progress or momentum gained toward a goal, especially in business or public acceptance.; The act of drawing or pulling something, especially by mechanical means.; A medical procedure in which a sustained pulling force is applied to a limb or part of the body to align bones, relieve pressure, or immobilize a fracture.; The adhesive friction of a body on a surface, as of a wheel on a rail or a tire on a road.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

gain tractionlose tractionget tractionprovide tractionroad tractionwheel traction

Derivatives

tractional

Synonyms

gripadherencepurchasemomentumheadway

Antonyms

slippage

Commonly confused

attraction
EN: 'Attraction' refers to a force or quality that draws people/things together; 'traction' refers to the grip or friction between surfaces, or figurative progress.
traction
EN: 'Traction' (grip/progress) is sometimes confused with 'traction' in medical contexts (pulling a limb), but these are the same word with different senses.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember 'traction' has a 'c' before the 'tion' ending (from Latin 'tractus'), not *'tration'.

💬 Examples

  1. The car lost traction on the icy road and skidded into the ditch.

  2. The startup is finally gaining traction after two years of development.

  3. The engine provided the traction needed to pull the heavy freight cars up the hill.

  4. The patient was placed in traction for six weeks after breaking his femur.

  5. Engineers designed the locomotive's wheels to maximize traction on wet rails.