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degenerate matter

American

noun

Physics.

matter consisting of atoms that have lost their orbital electrons.

degenerate matter British

noun

astronomy the highly compressed state of matter, esp in white dwarfs and neutron stars, supported against gravitational collapse by quantum mechanical effects

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One of each pair of stars, Dr. Kraft thinks, is probably a white dwarf: a star that has burned so thoroughly that it now consists chiefly of "degenerate" matter, denser than anything known on earth.

From Time Magazine Archive

For the dreadnoughts were armored with densely degenerate matter, impervious to any but a direct hit, and compartmented to require many hits.

From Generals Help Themselves by Pease, M. C.

Because this converter is the prime source of gamma-level, degenerate matter which is used as the fuel for nearly all our power generators, Base Q is recognized as a prime defense area of the Federation.

From Generals Help Themselves by Pease, M. C.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023