URANIUM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does uranium mean? 

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

1. a heavy toxic silvery-white radioactive metallic element; occurs in many isotopes; used for nuclear fuels and nuclear weapons

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• URANIUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy toxic silvery-white radioactive metallic element; occurs in many isotopes; used for nuclear fuels and nuclear weapons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 92; U; uranium

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

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "uranium"):

uranium 235 (a uranium isotope with mass number 235; capable of sustaining chain reactions)

uranium 238 (the commonest isotope of uranium; it is not fissionable but when irradiated with neutrons it produces fissionable plutonium 239)

Holonyms ("uranium" is a substance of...):

pitchblende; uraninite (a mineral consisting of uranium oxide and trace amounts of radium and thorium and polonium and lead and helium; uraninite in massive form is called pitchblende which is the chief uranium ore)

 Context examples 

One barn is approximately equal to the area of a uranium nucleus.

(Barn, NCI Thesaurus)

Gamma rays are very penetrating and are best stopped or shielded by dense materials, such as lead or depleted uranium.

(Gamma Radiation, NCI Thesaurus)

Cesium Cs 137 is prevalent due to its spontaneous production, which occurs as a result of nuclear fission of other radioactive materials, such as uranium and plutonium.

(Cesium Cs 137, NCI Thesaurus)