Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of drawing or pulling, especially the drawing of a vehicle or load over a surface by motor power.
  • noun The condition of being drawn or pulled.
  • noun Pulling power, as of a draft animal or engine.
  • noun Adhesive friction, as of a wheel on a track or a tire on a road.
  • noun Medicine A sustained pull applied mechanically especially to the arm, leg, or neck so as to correct fractured or dislocated bones, overcome muscle spasms, or relieve pressure.
  • noun Informal Impetus or advancement, as toward a desired result.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of drawing, or the state of being drawn; specifically, in physiology, contraction, as of a muscle.
  • noun The act of drawing a body along a surface, as over water or on a railway.
  • noun Attraction; attractive power or influence.
  • noun The adhesive friction of a body or object, as of a wheel on a rail or a rope on a pulley.
  • noun An action the negative of pressure.
  • noun In physiology, the axis or direction of the tractive action of a muscle; the line in which a muscle contracts.
  • noun In recent use, traffic by means of railroads; railroads, and especially streetrailroads, collectively; the interests and rights represented by such railroads.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of drawing, or the state of being drawn.
  • noun Specifically, the act of drawing a body along a plane by motive power, as the drawing of a carriage by men or horses, the towing of a boat by a tug.
  • noun rare Attraction; a drawing toward.
  • noun The adhesive friction of a wheel on a rail, a rope on a pulley, or the like.
  • noun (Mech.) the angle made with a given plane by the line of direction in which a tractive force acts.
  • noun a locomotive for drawing vehicles on highways or in the fields.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the act of pulling something along a surface using motive power
  • noun the condition of being so pulled
  • noun Grip
  • noun the pulling power of an engine or animal
  • noun the adhesive friction of a wheel etc on a surface
  • noun medicine a mechanically applied sustained pull, especially to a limb
  • noun business the extent of adoption of a new product or service, typically measured in number of customers or level of revenue achieved
  • noun politics popular support

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the friction between a body and the surface on which it moves (as between an automobile tire and the road)
  • noun (orthopedics) the act of pulling on a bone or limb (as in a fracture) to relieve pressure or align parts in a special way during healing

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin tractiō, tractiōn-, from Latin tractus, past participle of trahere, to pull, draw.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin tractus, perfect passive participle of verb trahere ("pull"), + noun of action suffix -io (genitive -ionis).

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Examples

Comments

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  • Also, approval or acceptance. To gain traction.

    "The new initiative is gaining traction in the Senate."

    May 14, 2009

  • A number of theories have been advanced in recent years by European writers, questioning the traditional account of its composition. Some have proposed that the Quran was actually assembled as long as two centuries after the time of Prophet Muhammad. This hypothetical argument has not gained much traction, because of a lack of supporting evidence.

    https://www.highly.co/hl/DGJ7o9LK7HcUix

    How to Read the Quran –Carl W Ernst – Edinburgh University Press – 2012

    traction: popular support

    February 8, 2018