verb
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To give an atom or group of atoms a net electric charge by adding or removing one or more electrons.
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To form ions in a substance. Lightning ionizes air, for example.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ionize
Vocabulary lists containing ionize
Physics - High School
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Electromagnetic Radiation - High School
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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.
In the study, Parziale's team introduced krypton gas into a wind tunnel and used lasers to ionize it.
From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2025
It then produces a second shock wave as it barrels into the galaxy again, which could ionize more oxygen atoms and explain the unusual production of OII light.
From Science Magazine • Jan. 8, 2024
And unlike auroras, neither Steve nor the picket fence emit blue light, which is generated when the most energetic particles hit and ionize nitrogen.
From Science Daily • Dec. 8, 2023
Gamma rays ionize atoms in this way, so it seems very likely that this blast physically affected out planet’s atmosphere, though only mildly and briefly.
From Scientific American • Oct. 21, 2022
The effects which salts produce in protoplasm are undoubtedly due to the fact that, when in solution, they readily ionize and conduct the electric current.
From The Chemistry of Plant Life by Thatcher, Roscoe Wilfred
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
