state of matter

American  

[stayt-uhv mat-er] / ˈsteɪt əv ˈmæt ər /

noun

plural

states of matter

1. Physical Chemistry. any of the phases, including solid, liquid, gas, plasma, and others, in which a substance can occur.

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state of matter Scientific  

/ stāt /

1. One of the four principal conditions in which matter exists—solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

2. See also phase phase transition

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Example Sentences

This unusual mixture is known as dusty plasma, a rare state of matter that exists both in outer space and inside laboratory experiments.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2026

The goal, Quaise CEO Carlos Araque says, is to tap rocks that are so hot that when water contacts them, it becomes a fourth state of matter.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025

It relies on heating and pressurising water to such a high degree that it enters a new state of matter: a so-called supercritical state.

From BBC • Aug. 18, 2025

But last month, Microsoft announced that it had allegedly discovered another state of matter originally theorized to exist in 1937.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2025

The normal, predictable state of matter throughout the universe is randomness, a relaxed sort of equilibrium, with atoms and their particles scattered around in an amorphous muddle.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas