strangeness
Americannoun
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the quality or condition of being strange.
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Physics. a quantum number assigned the value −1 for one kind of quark, +1 for its antiquark, and 0 for all other quarks; the strangeness of a hadron is the sum of the values for the strangeness of its constituent quarks and antiquarks. S
noun
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the state or quality of being strange
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physics a property of certain elementary particles, characterized by a quantum number ( strangeness number ) conserved in strong and electromagnetic but not in weak interactions. It is associated with the presence of strange quarks
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The property of containing a strange quark or antiquark. Strangeness is expressed in terms of an integer quantum number, −1 for each strange quark and +1 for each strange antiquark. Hadrons that possess strangeness are called strange. The total strangeness of a quantum system is unchanged by decay processes involving the strong or electromagnetic forces; however, decay through the weak force can change the total strangeness of the system.
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See also baryon number isospin
Etymology
Origin of strangeness
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at strange, -ness
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.
If this is our measure, then the editor Alice Quinn’s Covid-era anthology, “Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic,” falters on every front.
From New York Times • Dec. 14, 2020
In July, after the coup in Turkey, during the escalating Trump campaign, I read Orhan Pamuk’s “A Strangeness in My Mind.”
From The New Yorker • Dec. 13, 2016
Strangeness can change due to the weak interaction.
From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015
Strangeness can arise through diction, or syntax, or structure, or sound pattern.
From Slate • Feb. 12, 2013
Strangeness an illegitimate source of pleasure in execution.
From Modern Painters Volume I (of V) by Ruskin, John
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.
