metastable

[met-uh-stey-buh l, met-uh-stey-]

adjective

Metallurgy. chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.
Also labile. Physics, Chemistry. pertaining to a body or system existing at an energy level (metastable state) above that of a more stable state and requiring the addition of a small amount of energy to induce a transition to the more stable state.

Origin of metastable

First recorded in 1895–1900; meta- + stable²

Related formsmet·a·sta·bil·i·ty

[met-uh-stuh-bil-i-tee] /ˌmɛt ə stəˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for metastable

Historical Examples of metastable

It's a metastable state at best, all too likely to collapse into tyranny.
The Sensitive Man
Poul William Anderson
To this fact van't Hoff attributes the great permanence of many really unstable (or metastable) carbon compounds.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications
Alexander Findlay
This law explains the formation of the metastable forms of monotropic substances, which would otherwise not be obtainable.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications
Alexander Findlay
At any point outside this area, monoclinic sulphur can exist only in a metastable condition.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications
Alexander Findlay
Two of these solutions, however, would be metastable and supersaturated with respect to the decahydrate.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications
Alexander Findlay

British Dictionary definitions for metastable

metastable

adjective

(of a body or system) having a state of apparent equilibrium although capable of changing to a more stable state
(of an atom, molecule, ion, or atomic nucleus) existing in an excited state with a relatively long lifetime

noun

a metastable atom, ion, molecule, or nucleus

Derived Formsmetastability, noun

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