barium

noun

bar·i·um ˈber-ē-əm

: a silver-white metallic element of the alkaline earth metal group with atomic number 56 that is used especially in drilling fluid, as a getter in vacuum tubes, and as a contrast agent in medical imaging see Chemical Elements Table

: barium sulfate

Examples of barium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The tape is made up of yttrium barium copper oxide deposited on a steel substrate. —

IEEE Spectrum, 15 July 2023 These new materials, such as the ceramic known as yttrium barium copper oxide, became a superconductor at 93 Kelvin—still cold, but not absolute-zero cold. —

Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, 15 Aug. 2023 The documents examined by AP included a 1953 memo from a top official at the Atomic Energy Commission, concerning a barium cake spill that left a half-mile of road, its shoulder, and part of a cornfield with nuclear contamination. —

Michael Phillis and Jim Salter, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2023 Take a March 17, 1953, memo from Merril Eisenbud, health and safety division director for the Atomic Energy Commission, concerning a barium cake spill that left a half-mile of road, its shoulder and part of a corn field with nuclear contamination. —

Michael Phillis and Jim Salter, Chicago Tribune, 12 July 2023 To make the first one, lanthanum, start with a barium atom and add one proton and one electron. —

Stanley Merzman, Discover Magazine, 21 Aug. 2018 The team’s superconductor of choice was yttrium barium copper oxide, or YBCO. —

IEEE Spectrum, 15 July 2023 Heavy metals like lead, barium, iron, aluminum, zinc and copper among others have been found in high levels at different sampling points along the river by various research organizations, including the University of Nairobi’s public health and toxicology department. —

Evelyne Musambi, ajc, 30 Jan. 2023 Astronomers used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to detect barium at high altitudes in the atmosphere of each exoplanet. —

Ashley Strickland, CNN, 13 Oct. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barium.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.