magnet

mag·net   (māg'nĭt)    n.   An object that is surrounded by a magnetic field and that has the property, either natural or induced, of attracting iron or steel. An electromagnet. A person, a place, an object, or a situation that exerts attraction. [Middle English, from Old French magnete, from Latin magnēs, magnēt-, from Greek Magnēs (lithos), Magnesian (stone), magnet, from Magnēsiā, Magnesia, an ancient city of Asia Minor.]

Magnet

Mag"net\, n. [OE. magnete, OF. magnete, L. magnes, -etis, Gr. ? ? a magnet, metal that looked like silver, prop., Magnesian stone, fr. Gr. ?, a country in Thessaly. Cf. Magnesia, Manganese.]

1. The loadstone; a species of iron ore (the ferrosoferric or magnetic ore, Fe3O4) which has the property of attracting iron and some of its ores, and, when freely suspended, of pointing to the poles; -- called also natural magnet.

Dinocrates began to make the arched roof of the temple of Arsino["e] all of magnet, or this loadstone. --Holland.

Two magnets, heaven and earth, allure to bliss, The larger loadstone that, the nearer this. --Dryden.

2. (Physics) A bar or mass of steel or iron to which the peculiar properties of the loadstone have been imparted; -- called, in distinction from the loadstone, an artificial magnet.

Note: An artificial magnet, produced by the action of a voltaic or electrical battery, is called an electro-magnet.

Field magnet (Physics & Elec.), a magnet used for producing and maintaining a magnetic field; -- used especially of the stationary or exciting magnet of a dynamo or electromotor in distinction from that of the moving portion or armature.

magnet

An object that attracts iron and some other materials. Magnets are said to generate a magnetic field around themselves. Every magnet has two poles, called the north and south poles. Magnetic poles exert forces on each other in such a way that like poles repel and unlike poles attract each other. A compass is a small magnet that is affected by the magnetic field of the Earth in such a way that it points to a magnetic pole of the Earth. (See magnetic field and magnetism.)

magnet 

Main Entry: mag·net
Pronunciation: 'mag-n&t
Function: noun
: a body having the property of attracting iron and producing a magnetic field externalto itself; specifically : a mass of iron, steel, or alloy that has this property artificially imparted

magnet   (māg'nĭt)  Pronunciation Key  A material or object that produces a magnetic field. Lodestones are natural magnets, though many materials, especially metals, can be made into magnets by exposing them to a magnetic field. See also electromagnet, ferromagnetism, magnetic pole. See Note at magnetism.