SUBATOMIC PARTICLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does subatomic particle mean? 

• SUBATOMIC PARTICLE (noun)
  The noun SUBATOMIC PARTICLE has 1 sense:

1. a body having finite mass and internal structure but negligible dimensions

  Familiarity information: SUBATOMIC PARTICLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SUBATOMIC PARTICLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A body having finite mass and internal structure but negligible dimensions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

particle; subatomic particle

Hypernyms ("subatomic particle" is a kind of...):

body (an individual 3-dimensional object that has mass and that is distinguishable from other objects)

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

virion ((virology) a complete viral particle; nucleic acid and capsid (and a lipid envelope in some viruses))

alpha particle (a positively charged particle that is the nucleus of the helium atom; emitted from natural or radioactive isotopes)

beta particle (a high-speed electron or positron emitted in the decay of a radioactive isotope)

boson (any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics but not the Pauli exclusion principle; all nuclei with an even mass number are bosons)

deuteron (the nucleus of deuterium; consists of one proton and one neutron; used as a bombarding particle in accelerators)

elementary particle; fundamental particle ((physics) a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter)

fermion (any particle that obeys Fermi-Dirac statistics and is subject to the Pauli exclusion principle)

ion (a particle that is electrically charged (positive or negative); an atom or molecule or group that has lost or gained one or more electrons)

magnetic monopole (a hypothetical particle with a single magnetic pole instead of the usual two)

micelle (an electrically charged particle built up from polymeric molecules or ions and occurring in certain colloidal electrolytic solutions like soaps and detergents)

prion ((microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system)

virino ((microbiology) a hypothetical infectious particle thought to be the cause of scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the central nervous system; consists of nucleic acid in a protective coat of host cell proteins)

scintilla (a sparkling glittering particle)

superstring (a hypothetical particle that is the elementary particle in a theory of space-time)

thermion (an electrically charged particle (electron or ion) emitted by a substance at a high temperature)

 Context examples 

Another idea is that the universe contains a previously unknown new subatomic particle that travels close to the speed of light.

(Measuring Growth of Universe Reveals a Mystery, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)