metastable

[ met-uh-stey-buhl, met-uh-stey- ]

adjective
  1. Metallurgy. chemically unstable in the absence of certain conditions that would induce stability, but not liable to spontaneous transformation.

  2. 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

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; meta- + stable2

Other 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

British Dictionary definitions for metastable

metastable

/ (ˌmɛtəˈsteɪbəl) physics /


adjective
  1. (of a body or system) having a state of apparent equilibrium although capable of changing to a more stable state

  2. (of an atom, molecule, ion, or atomic nucleus) existing in an excited state with a relatively long lifetime

noun
  1. a metastable atom, ion, molecule, or nucleus

Derived forms of metastable

  • metastability, noun

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