METASTABILITY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does metastability mean? 

• METASTABILITY (noun)
  The noun METASTABILITY has 1 sense:

1. the quality of a physical system that persists in its existing equilibrium when undisturbed (or only slightly disturbed) but able to pass to a more stable equilibrium when sufficiently disturbed

  Familiarity information: METASTABILITY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• METASTABILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of a physical system that persists in its existing equilibrium when undisturbed (or only slightly disturbed) but able to pass to a more stable equilibrium when sufficiently disturbed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("metastability" is a kind of...):

constancy; stability (the quality of being enduring and free from change or variation)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)