free electron

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noun Physics.

an electron that is not attached to an atom or molecule and is free to respond to outside forces.

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Origin of free electron

First recorded in 1905–10

Words nearby free electron

freedom of the seas, freedom ride, freedom rider, Freedom Riders, freedwoman, free electron, free energy, free enterprise, free enterpriser, free expansion, free fall

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use free electron in a sentence

Semiconductors lie between metals, with many free electrons that carry electrical current, and insulators, whose electrons are held within its atoms and cannot form a current.
What You’re Doing Right Now Is Proof of Quantum Theory - Issue 108: Change|Sidney Perkowitz|November 24, 2021|Nautilus
The secret was that near absolute zero, vibrations in a metal’s atomic lattice steer free electrons into pairs.
A New Twist Reveals Superconductivity’s Secrets|Charlie Wood|March 16, 2021|Quanta Magazine
In other words, the free thinker defending freedom of thought.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Tend to your own garden, to quote the great sage of free speech, Voltaire, and invite people to follow your example.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The simple, awful truth is that free speech has never been particularly popular in America.
How the PC Police Threaten Free Speech|Nick Gillespie|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Cambodia, with its seemingly free press, is also a haven for foreign journalists.
Cambodia’s Smoke-and-Mirrors Democracy|David Shaftel|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In other words, the free speech exhibited by the folks at Charlie Hebdo was not virtuous—until there was a body count.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What need to look to right or left when you are swallowing up free mile after mile of dizzying road?
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
It seemed to free her of a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which Fate had not fitted her.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
If we can free this State of Yankees, we will accomplish more than your armies down south have.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
The voice of the orator peculiarly should be free from studied effects, and responsive to motive.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
Above all, he was amazed to hear me talk of a mercenary standing army in the midst of peace and among a free people.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

British Dictionary definitions for free electron

free electron

noun

any electron that is not attached to an ion, atom, or molecule and is free to move under the influence of an applied electric or magnetic field

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