n.
The force perpendicular to the forward motion on a spinning object moving through a fluid or gas, as that responsible for the curve on a curve ball.
[After Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802-1870), German chemist and physicist.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
