subnuclear particle

American

[suhb-noo-klee-er, -nyoo-, -kyuh-ler] / sʌbˈnu kli ər, -ˈnju-, -kjə lər /

noun

Physics.

any of the elementary particles, including those that do not exist in stable matter but appear as a result of high-energy collisions of other particles or nuclei.

First recorded in 1960–65; sub- + nuclear

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023