How to Use magnetic north in a Sentence

magnetic north

noun
  • For instance, right now, magnetic north aligns with the direction of north.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025
  • But sometimes, magnetic north can align with the direction of south.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025
  • True north in Fairbanks is now just 16 degrees west of magnetic north.
    — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Jan. 2023
  • The magnetic needle on a compass points to magnetic North, rather than to the true north pole.
    — James Lynch, Popular Mechanics, 19 July 2019
  • As a result, the magnetic north pole continues to coast toward Siberia.
    — Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 26 Dec. 2024
  • The magnetic north pole, for example, is slithering eastward at break-neck speed.
    — Popular Mechanics, 26 May 2022
  • As Wired explains, the magnetic North Pole can move by as much as 40 miles a year.
    — Sophie Weiner, Popular Mechanics, 20 Jan. 2018
  • Amidst the constant changes in Earth’s magnetic field, the most notable one is the drifting of the magnetic north pole.
    — Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 26 Dec. 2024
  • Earth’s magnetic north pole has shifted away from Canada and closer to Siberia at a rapid pace in recent years.
    — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2022
  • And, while a flip is probably not imminent, the location of magnetic north changes even on human time scales.
    — Don Lincoln, CNN, 26 Jan. 2023
  • That’s a big deal, since current fluctuations suggest magnetic north might be gearing up for such a major shift soon.
    — Bill Andrews, Discover Magazine, 7 Aug. 2019
  • Joling’s phone did not calculate the difference between magnetic north and true north.
    — Ned Rozell, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Jan. 2023
  • Give him a relentless work ethic, an addiction to risk and a moral compass that puts his own interests at its magnetic north pole.
    — Will Oremus, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2023
  • The second part lies in understanding that the needle of your compass always points toward the magnetic north pole.
    — Gary Garth, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2020
  • The magnetic north pole has been moving away from Canada and toward Russia since then, Dwyer said.
    — Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2022
  • No doubt some sailors noticed that compass needles no longer pointed toward the magnetic north pole during auroras.
    — Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The three-bedroom house was designed for two astronomy photographers and built to face magnetic north.
    — Neal J. Leitereg and Lauren Beale, latimes.com, 31 Mar. 2018
  • Like the Earth, the sun has magnetic north and south poles—but unlike Earth, those poles flip positions every 11 years.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 June 2024
  • The Bermuda Triangle is one of two places on Earth where a compass will point to true north instead of magnetic north.
    — Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 18 Apr. 2022
  • The three-bedroom house was designed for two astronomy photographers and built to face the magnetic north like the needle of a compass.
    — Neal J. Leitereg, latimes.com, 24 Mar. 2018
  • First, adjust your compass’s declination (the difference between magnetic north and true north), which should be listed on your topo map.
    — Outside Online, 2 Aug. 2021
  • Instead, magnetic north is the changing location where the planet’s magnetic field lines converge.
    — Ella Jeffries, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Jan. 2025
  • This field sometimes flips — magnetic north is sometimes at the top of the world, and sometimes at the bottom — so over time a barcode-like magnetic pattern emerges in rocks on the seafloor.
    — Quanta Magazine, 14 Apr. 2021
  • The magnetic state of our world is constantly changing, with the magnetic north and south poles wandering by a few degrees every century or so.
    — Emily Toomey, Smithsonian, 8 Aug. 2019
  • For the best chance to catch a glimpse of the northern lights, viewers should move away from cities or other sources of light pollution and move closer to the Earth’s magnetic north pole.
    — Zachary Folk, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2025
  • But magnetic north doesn’t line up perfectly with true north, the point where the Earth’s axis hits the surface (and above which the North Star sits).
    — Julie Rehmeyer, Discover Magazine, 7 Nov. 2018
  • Meanwhile, the magnetic north pole is shifting off its usual axis and no one in the scientific community can explain why.
    — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 20 Sep. 2021
  • Leading the expedition was the already famous James Clark Ross, who had been the first to stand atop the magnetic north pole.
    — David James, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Sep. 2019
  • The needle does not point at the actual geographical location of magnetic north.
    — Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2022
  • The needle does not point at the actual geographical location of magnetic north.
    — Eleanor McCrary, USA TODAY, 7 Dec. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'magnetic north.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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