strong force

noun

: a fundamental physical force that acts on hadrons and is responsible for the binding together of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus and for processes of particle creation in high-energy collisions and that is the strongest known fundamental physical force but acts only over distances comparable to those between nucleons in an atomic nucleus

called also strong interaction, strong nuclear force

compare electromagnetism sense 2a, gravity sense 3a(2), weak force

Examples of strong force in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Freese suspects the strong force would join them if particle accelerators could reach energies high enough to simulate the even hotter, even younger universe in which the particles mediating the strong force would appear. —Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2023

China’s economy is also facing strong forces from outside its borders. —Chris Buckley, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024

The app proved to be a strong force for mobilizing young voters in the 2020 Presidential election. —TIME, 12 Feb. 2024

But then physicists found new particles and needed extra dimensions for the strong force and the weak force. —Pamela Weintraub, Discover Magazine, 28 June 2023

Instead, much of the proton's mass comes from the incredibly high energy density created by the gluons' strong force interactions. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 3 Apr. 2023

But the theory of the strong force was not developed to explain how nucleons stick together. —WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023

Weinberg’s work helped physicists understand how the strong nuclear force emerges from the strong force. —WIRED, 10 Aug. 2023

The remaining two are more obscure: the strong force binds protons and neutrons together within atomic nuclei, whereas the weak force helps atoms and subatomic particles to fall apart via a form of radioactive decay. —Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

strong force

noun

: the force between the particles of an atomic nucleus that acts to hold the nucleus together and is the strongest known force