HEAVY WATER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does heavy water mean? 

• HEAVY WATER (noun)
  The noun HEAVY WATER has 1 sense:

1. water containing a substantial proportion of deuterium atoms, used in nuclear reactors

  Familiarity information: HEAVY WATER used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HEAVY WATER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Water containing a substantial proportion of deuterium atoms, used in nuclear reactors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

deuterium oxide; heavy water

Hypernyms ("heavy water" is a kind of...):

moderator (any substance used to slow down neutrons in nuclear reactors)

 Context examples 

The ratio of regular to heavy water was not linked to the origin of the comets - whether they were from the Oort Cloud or the Kuiper Belt.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)

Observing at high altitudes above much of the Earth's atmospheric water allowed SOFIA to accurately measure the ratio of regular to heavy water in Comet Wirtanen.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)

But using special instruments, scientists can detect two types: regular water, H2O, and heavy water, HDO, which has an extra neutrally-charged particle called a neutron inside one of the hydrogen atoms.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)