Szilard

American

[sil-ahrd] / ˈsɪl ɑrd /

noun

Leo, 1898–1964, U.S. physicist, born in Hungary.

Szilard British

/ ˈsɪlɑːd /

noun

Leo. 1898–1964, US physicist, born in Hungary, who originated the idea of a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (1934). He worked on the atomic bomb during World War II but later pressed for the international control of nuclear weapons

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Szilard Scientific

/ zĭl′ərd /

Hungarian-born American physicist who introduced the concept of the nuclear chain reaction. With Enrico Fermi, he built the world's first nuclear reactor. Szilard was instrumental in the development of the atomic bomb.

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.

Seventy scientists at Chicago endorsed the Szilard Petition.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2025

Szilard Demeter, the director of the Petofi Literary Museum, said that "inhumane dictatorships will still be inhumane and dictatorships, even if someone starts to portray them in a positive light."

From BBC • Sep. 12, 2023

So can you tell us what it was and who Szilard was?

From Scientific American • Aug. 24, 2023

But like Szilard, it would need help to build and deploy it.

From Slate • May 9, 2023

Szilard circulated a petition arguing on moral grounds against any deployment of the bomb at all.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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