gravity wave
noun
1
: a wave in a fluid (such as the ocean or the atmosphere) which is propagated because of the tendency of gravity to maintain a uniform level or in which gravity is the restoring force
2
: gravitational wave
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web That induced an up and down oscillating motion known as a gravity wave — akin to the ripples produced by a bobber in a pond. 
Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2021 Atmospheric gravity waves can be seen in satellite images taken by Australian weather forecast service Weatherzone on Monday and Tuesday. Maisy Mok, CNN, 24 Oct. 2019 Even when the objects generating a gravity wave are as massive as neutron stars or large black holes, the blip’s effects are tiny—a distortion a thousandth of the width of a proton over the course of a 4km-long detector arm. The Economist, 20 Aug. 2019 The combination of the two was so powerful, that the equivalent of the mass of five Suns was turned into gravity waves — waves that reached Earth on July 29th. Mary Beth Griggs, The Verge, 3 Dec. 2018 Programmers have used Python to power innovation in everything from the detection of gravity waves (resulting in last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics) to reducing the cost of developing new drugs. Paul Romer, WSJ, 20 Nov. 2018 If a perturbation were to jostle this fluid, a gravity wave would result. Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2018 The cloud ridge was located above a region of highlands called Aphrodite Terra and seemed to be a shockingly large atmospheric gravity wave—not unlike a stationary ripple above a rock in a flowing stream. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 22 June 2018 This is because mountains provide the lift, wind shear and associated gravity waves needed to produce these unusual cloud formations. Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2018 See More
Washington Post, 12 Apr. 2021 Atmospheric gravity waves can be seen in satellite images taken by Australian weather forecast service Weatherzone on Monday and Tuesday. Maisy Mok, CNN, 24 Oct. 2019 Even when the objects generating a gravity wave are as massive as neutron stars or large black holes, the blip’s effects are tiny—a distortion a thousandth of the width of a proton over the course of a 4km-long detector arm. The Economist, 20 Aug. 2019 The combination of the two was so powerful, that the equivalent of the mass of five Suns was turned into gravity waves — waves that reached Earth on July 29th. Mary Beth Griggs, The Verge, 3 Dec. 2018 Programmers have used Python to power innovation in everything from the detection of gravity waves (resulting in last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics) to reducing the cost of developing new drugs. Paul Romer, WSJ, 20 Nov. 2018 If a perturbation were to jostle this fluid, a gravity wave would result. Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2018 The cloud ridge was located above a region of highlands called Aphrodite Terra and seemed to be a shockingly large atmospheric gravity wave—not unlike a stationary ripple above a rock in a flowing stream. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 22 June 2018 This is because mountains provide the lift, wind shear and associated gravity waves needed to produce these unusual cloud formations. Kathryn Prociv, Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1877, in the meaning defined at sense 1