weak force
a force between elementary particles that causes certain processes that take place with low probability, as radioactive beta-decay and collisions between neutrinos and other particles.
Origin of weak force
1- Also called weak interaction force .
- Compare weak interaction.
Words Nearby weak force
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use weak force in a sentence
The weak force is a little more complicated than we let on earlier.
A New Map of All the Particles and Forces | Natalie Wolchover, Samuel Velasco and Lucy Reading-Ikkanda | October 22, 2020 | Quanta MagazineJustice Souter, whom Sotomayor would replace, had an equally fine c.v., but turned out to be a weak force on the High Court.
Apparently it was too heavy for the weak force activating the cylinders.
Sense from Thought Divide | Mark Irvin CliftonBut it had been dearly bought, and their leader saw plainly that he could not succeed in that savage land with such a weak force.
The Spanish Pioneers | Charles F. LummisTo defeat such an enormous force as this, a European expedition was necessary, not the weak force at Gordon's disposal.
Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892 | F. R. Wingate
It must not be supposed that the whisper is always associated with moderate or with weak force as in the preceding examples.
The Ontario High School Reader | A.E. MartyThis is an operation too difficult for a weak force to accomplish.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force | Sir Winston S. Churchill
Scientific definitions for weak force
[ wēk ]
The fundamental force that acts between leptons and is involved in the decay of hadrons. The weak nuclear force is responsible for nuclear beta decay (by changing the flavor of quarks) and for neutrino absorption and emission. It is mediated by the intermediate vector bosons (the W boson and the Z boson), and is weaker than the strong nuclear force and the electromagnetic force but stronger than gravity. Some scientists believe that the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force are both aspects of a single force called the electroweak force. Also called weak nuclear force weak interaction Compare electromagnetic force.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for weak force
One of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is involved primarily in the phenomenon of radioactivity. (See standard model and strong force.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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