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thermalize

British  
/ ˈθɜːməˌlaɪz /

verb

  1. physics to undergo or cause to undergo a process in which neutrons lose energy in a moderator and become thermal neutrons

"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

Other Word Forms

  • thermalization noun

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.

"These results show why such an atomic cloud does not thermalize -- why it doesn't distribute its energy according to the usual laws of thermodynamics" says Møller.

From Science Daily • Jan. 7, 2026

In case the reactor overheats and boils the water away, the chain reaction terminates, because water is needed to thermalize the neutrons.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

This first “atomic pile”, built in a squash court at the University of Chicago, used carbon blocks to thermalize neutrons.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Explain, in terms of conservation of momentum and energy, why collisions of neutrons with protons will thermalize neutrons better than collisions with oxygen.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

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.