subatomic particle
Americannoun
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Any of various particles of matter that are smaller than a hydrogen atom. Protons, neutrons, and electrons are subatomic particles, as are all hadrons and leptons.
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See also composite particle elementary particle
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Noun Inflected Forms
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.
For decades, a puzzling discrepancy involving a tiny subatomic particle called the muon fueled speculation that physicists might be on the verge of discovering an entirely new force of nature.
From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026
The largest scientific project in Antarctica, ICECUBE, attempts to quantify and trace an unfathomably small subatomic particle — the neutrino.
From Salon ● May 29, 2023
Through what’s called beta-minus decay, a neutron will transform into a proton, spitting out an electron and another subatomic particle called a neutrino in the process.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 9, 2023
Take the muon, a subatomic particle that became briefly famous last year.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2022
When a subatomic particle travels very fast, it survives longer than expected before it decays, because its clock is slow.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
