micron
Americannoun
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Also called micrometer. the millionth part of a meter. μ, mu
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Physical Chemistry. a colloidal particle whose diameter is between 0.2 and 10 microns.
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Physics. a very small unit of pressure, equal to that exerted by a column of mercury 1μ high.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of micron
1880–85; < Greek mīkrón a little, noun use of neuter singular of mīkrós small; see -on 1
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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.
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Nanoplastics are generally considered anything less than one micron.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
In the new study, published in Nature Nanotechnology, the researchers addressed these challenges by using a focused ion beam capable of cutting with sub micron precision.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2026
Transphorm uses ultra thin layers of gallium nitride that are a micron, or one thousandth of a millimetre thick, on its semiconductors.
From Reuters ● Jul. 11, 2023
Everyone is a micron deep, pixels without much in the way of personality.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
To get down to the scale of atoms, you would need to take each one of those micron slices and shave it into ten thousand finer widths.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
The Brookesia micra is the tiniest of four chameleons found this year in Madagascar.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2012
In addition to the discovery of Brookesia micra, now the tiniest chameleon ever discovered, the researchers also announced the discovery of three additional tiny chameleon species.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 16, 2012
Starbucks poked fun at itself by unveiling new "micra" and "plenta" sizes, one absurdly small, the other as big as a bucket.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2010
Read off the number of divisions it occupies and express them as micra.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
These cells can detect physical cues up to 10 microns beyond the area where they are attached.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 16, 2026
David A Lindon, from Bournemouth, Dorset, says his latest sculpture, The Yellow Smiley Face, is "invisible to the human eye", with measurements of only 11.037 by 12.330 microns.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
The dust's fine grains, just one or two microns in size, makes it easy to inhale and difficult to remove.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2025
In herU.K. lab, Onyeaka is growing Chlorella vulgaris, a green single-celled algae about 2 to 10 microns in diameter — roughly the width of a strand of spider silk.
From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2025
But the carbon fibers, usually 500 microns apart, now had a gap eight times that width in their midst.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
