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high-energy physics

American  
[hahy-en-er-jee] / ˈhaɪˈɛn ər dʒi /

noun

  1. the branch of particle physics that deals with the collisions of particles accelerated to such high energies that new elementary particles are created by the collisions.


high-energy physics British  

noun

  1. another name for particle physics

"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

Etymology

Origin of high-energy physics

First recorded in 1960–65

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.

He opted for high-energy physics and theoretical math instead.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

"It's an ideal project for the MSU high-energy physics group."

From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2025

Gary Marcus has argued for ‘‘a coordinated, multidisciplinary, multinational effort’’ modeled after the European high-energy physics lab CERN, which has successfully developed billion-dollar science projects like the Large Hadron Collider.

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2022

Instead, he says, it reflects his life experiences, which include 6 years as director of Canada’s high-energy physics laboratory before coming to Fermilab.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 2, 2021

Nor could dispensers of government patronage merely weigh scientific projects against one another: the cost of high-energy physics had become so great that broader priorities were implicated.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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