cen·trip·e·tal   (sěn-trĭp'ĭ-tl)    adj.   Moving or directed toward a center or axis. Operated by means of centripetal force. Physiology Transmitting nerve impulses toward the central nervous system; afferent. 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. Tending or directed toward centralization: the centripetal effects of a homogeneous population. cen·trip'e·tal·ly adv.

Centripetal

Cen*trip"e*tal\, a. [L. centrum center + petere to move toward.]

1. Tending, or causing, to approach the center.

2. (Bot.) (a) Expanding first at the base of the inflorescence, and proceeding in order towards the summit. (b) Having the radicle turned toward the axis of the fruit, as some embryos.

3. Progressing by changes from the exterior of a thing toward its center; as, the centripetal calcification of a bone. --R. Owen.

Centripetal force (Mech.), a force whose direction is towards a center, as in case of a planet revolving round the sun, the center of the system, See Centrifugal force, under Centrifugal.

Centripetal impression (Physiol.), an impression (sensory) transmitted by an afferent nerve from the exterior of the body inwards, to the central organ.

centripetal 

Main Entry: cen·trip·e·tal
Pronunciation: sen-'trip-&t-^&l
Function: adjective
: passing inward (as from a sense organto the brain or spinal cord) : AFFERENT —cen·trip·e·tal·ly /-^&l-E/ adverb

centripetal cen·trip·e·tal (sěn-trĭp'ĭ-tl)
adj.

1. Moving or directed toward a center or axis.
2. Transmitting nerve impulses toward the central nervous system; afferent.

centripetal   (sěn-trĭp'ĭ-tl)  Pronunciation Key  Moving or directed toward a center or axis, particularly one around which an object is spinning. Transmitting nerve impulses toward the brain or spinal cord; afferent. Developing or progressing inward toward a center or axis, as in the growth of plant structures. For example, in the disk of the inflorescence of a sunflower, the florets near the edge open first, and the ones in the center last. Compare centrifugal.