Meaning & use
traction
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The grip a tire, shoe, or other object has on a surface that stops it from sliding.
Grammar: No plural: the tires lost traction.
Patterns
- traction on something
- lose traction
- gain traction
The tires lost traction on the icy road.
Hiking boots give you better traction on wet rock.
The truck needed more traction in the mud.
noununcountablefigurative
Growing support, interest, or progress that lets an idea or project move forward.
Grammar: Often with gain or get: gain traction.
Patterns
- gain traction
- get traction
- lose traction
The campaign finally gained traction online.
The start-up struggled to get traction with investors.
Her proposal gained traction after the first pilot.
noununcountablemedical
The gentle pulling force applied to a broken bone or injured body part to hold it in position.
Grammar: Often used with in: in traction.
Patterns
- be in traction
- apply traction
His leg was in traction for three weeks.
The nurse adjusted the weights used for traction.
Traction helped the bone heal in position.
Common combinations
- gain traction
- The petition began to gain traction.
- lose traction
- The car lost traction on the wet bend.
- get traction
- We could not get traction with the idea.
- traction control
- The car has traction control for icy roads.
- in traction
- The skier was in traction for a month.
- good traction
- These tires give good traction.
Synonyms and how they differ
- grip
- Grip is the everyday word and can describe holding with the hands, which traction does not.
- adhesion
- Adhesion is the technical word for sticking, and is not about movement.
- momentum
- Momentum fits the figurative sense but implies speed already gained, while traction means getting started.
- footing
- Footing refers to a stable position for your feet, while traction describes the grip itself.
Opposites
Word family
- tractor noun
- a vehicle that pulls farm machinery
- tractive adjective
- used for pulling
- attraction noun
- a pull toward something
- retraction noun
- a pulling back or taking back of a statement
Commonly confused: traction or attraction?
traction vs attraction
Attraction is a pull of interest or force toward something; traction is grip or progress.
Practice
After months of slow growth, the new app finally started to gain ___ with users.
Choose one answer.
Gain traction is the usual phrase for starting to succeed. Attraction is a real word, but it is not used in this fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “traction”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.