1. Moving or directed toward a center or axis.

2. Operated by means of centripetal force.

3. Physiology Transmitting nerve impulses toward the central nervous system; afferent.

4. Botany Developing or progressing inward toward the center or axis, as in the head of a sunflower, in which the oldest flowers are near the edge and the youngest flowers are in the center.

5. Tending or directed toward centralization: the centripetal effects of a homogeneous population.