argon

noun ar·gon \ ˈär-ˌgän \

|Updated on: 7 Jun 2018

Definition of argon

: a colorless odorless inert gaseous element found in the air and in volcanic gases and used especially in welding, lasers, and electric bulbs — see Chemical Elements Table

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Recent Examples of argon from the Web

The same is true of other physiologically inert gases, including helium and argon, which kill only by replacing oxygen.

— author: denise grady, jan hoffman, Anchorage Daily News, "States turn to an unproven method of execution: nitrogen gas," 8 May 2018
Certain isotopes of argon radioactively decay more or less depending on the season.

— natalie wolchover, WIRED, "Trouble Detected in Infamous Dark Matter Signal," 18 Apr. 2018
Geochemist Alan Deino of the Berkeley Geochronology Center and his colleagues dated several sites around the basin by analyzing the ratio of argon isotopes in rock layers to tell when the material above and below a site had been deposited.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "Unstable climate forced early humans to be more social and creative," 18 Mar. 2018
For a cleaner weld, use 75 percent CO2 and 25 percent argon.

— phillip pantuso, Popular Mechanics, "How to Get Started With Welding," 27 May 2015
For decades the bulbs have been filled with gas, usually a mixture of nitrogen and argon.

— dale kasler, sacbee, "Traditional lightbulbs set to vanish from California store shelves starting Jan. 1," 22 Dec. 2017
The large built-in argon gas supply will also last over 150 bottles.

— bob o’donnell, USA TODAY, "Our devices are getting smarter. Even our wine dispensers.," 5 Nov. 2017
Two other teams of physicists—using instruments that detect muons passing through plastic arrays or argon—then verified this anomaly.

— sarah zhang, The Atlantic, "An Unknown 'Void' Found in the Great Pyramid Using Cosmic Rays," 2 Nov. 2017
Construction began Friday on the neutrino detectors at the Sanford lab, which will be about a mile deep and filled with 70,000 tons of liquid argon.

— quint forgey, WSJ, "Scientists Tee Up 800-Mile Neutrino Shot," 21 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'argon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of argon

Greek, neuter of argos idle, lazy, from a- + ergon work; from its relative inertness — more at work

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First Known Use: 1894

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ARGON Defined for English Language Learners

argon

noun

Definition of argon for English Language Learners

: a chemical element that is a colorless gas and that is used in various products (such as lasers and some electric light bulbs)

Medical Dictionary

argon

noun ar·gon \ ˈär-ˌgän \

medical Definition of argon

: a colorless odorless inert gaseous element found in the air and in volcanic gases and used especially in lasers and electric bulbs —symbol Ar — see Chemical Elements Table