inertia

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in·er·tia / iˈnərshə/ • n. 1. a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged: the bureaucratic inertia of government.2. Physics a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.See also moment of inertia. ∎  resistance to change in some other physical property: the thermal inertia of the oceans will delay the full rise in temperature for a few decades.DERIVATIVES: in·er·tia·less adj.

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