metastable
Metallurgy. chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.
Origin of metastable
1Other words from metastable
- met·a·sta·bil·i·ty [met-uh-stuh-bil-i-tee], /ˌmɛt ə stəˈbɪl ɪ ti/, noun
Words Nearby metastable
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use metastable in a sentence
The result suggests that at high pressure diamond is what scientists call metastable.
Extreme pressure? Diamonds can take it | Emily Conover | February 19, 2021 | Science News For StudentsDiamond was already known to be metastable at low pressures.
Extreme pressure? Diamonds can take it | Emily Conover | February 19, 2021 | Science News For StudentsX-ray measurements of the material’s structure revealed that diamond persisted, suggesting it is metastable under extreme pressure.
Diamond holds up at pressures more than five times those in Earth’s core | Emily Conover | January 27, 2021 | Science NewsTo this fact van't Hoff attributes the great permanence of many really unstable (or metastable) carbon compounds.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications | Alexander FindlayAt any point outside this area, monoclinic sulphur can exist only in a metastable condition.
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 FindlayTwo of these solutions, however, would be metastable and supersaturated with respect to the decahydrate.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications | Alexander FindlayThe dotted portions of the curves represent metastable equilibria.
The Phase Rule and Its Applications | Alexander Findlay
British Dictionary definitions for metastable
/ (ˌmɛtəˈsteɪbəl) physics /
(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
a metastable atom, ion, molecule, or nucleus
Derived forms of metastable
- metastability, 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
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