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maser

[mey-zer]
noun
  1. a device for amplifying electromagnetic waves by stimulated emission of radiation.
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Compare laser.

Origin of maser

1950–55; m(icrowave) a(mplification by) s(timulated) e(mission of) r(adiation)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for maser

Historical Examples

  • Rhazes quoted Maser Djawah freely and evidently trusted his declarations implicitly.

    Old-Time Makers of Medicine

    James J. Walsh

  • The mazer-bowls were made from maple-wood, so named from the German Maser, a spotted wood.

    Cups and their Customs

    George Edwin Roberts

  • "Don't try and buff me, dinAlt," the maser barrel pushed harder against his back.

    The Ethical Engineer

    Henry Maxwell Dempsey

British Dictionary definitions for maser

maser

noun
  1. a device for amplifying microwaves, working on the same principle as a laser
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Word Origin

C20: m (icrowave) a (mplification by) s (timulated) e (mission of) r (adiation)
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

Word Origin and History for maser

n.

1955, acronym from "microwave amplification (by) stimulated emission (of) radiation."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
maser in Science

maser

[mā′zər]
  1. Short for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. A device that generates coherent microwaves using the same principles as a laser. Masers are used in a variety of applications, including in atomic clocks. Natural masers are found in outer space when water or other substances are excited by radiation from a star or by the energy of a collision.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.