heavy water

noun

Definition of heavy water

1 : the compound D₂O composed of deuterium and oxygen

— called also deuterium oxide

2 : water enriched in deuterium

Examples of heavy water in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Iran has shut down that reactor, however, and stopped making heavy water after rebukes from International Atomic Energy Agency monitors. — Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, "Trump scuttles Iran nuclear deal but offers no plan for what comes next," 8 May 2018 Fairley and his team added heavy water to several of Yellowstone’s hot springs and tracked the rate at which its amount decreased over time. — Kevin Davenport, idahostatesman, "Yellowstone's magma chamber is more powerful than we knew. Here's why studying it matters.," 3 July 2018 Having a fast, non-invasive method such as heavy water tracing would be a great economic boon. — Kevin Davenport, idahostatesman, "Yellowstone's magma chamber is more powerful than we knew. Here's why studying it matters.," 3 July 2018 Its rarity made heavy water the Achilles’ heel of the German nuclear bomb program. — Timothy J. Jorgensen, Smithsonian, "How a Sneak Attack By Norway’s Skiing Soldiers Deprived the Nazis of the Atomic Bomb," 27 Feb. 2018 Three apartments remain unoccupied and probably will be for some time due to heavy water damage and some fire damage, Lenzi said. — Jim Newton, Lake County News-Sun, "Waukegan lightning strike causes apartment complex evacuation during storm," 16 May 2018 Under the deal, Iran permanently altered a heavy water nuclear power plant to prevent it from ever producing plutonium for a bomb. — Oren Dorell, USA TODAY, "Iran preps 'industrial-scale' nuke production after U.S. leaves nuclear deal," 11 May 2018 That finding is also shared in the main by U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials, though the Trump administration argues Iran exceeded limits on heavy water production. — Washington Post, "AP FACT CHECK: Trump vs. truth on the Iran nuclear deal," 10 May 2018 This fluid holds heavy water, whose hydrogen atoms have a neutron along with a proton, as well as two molecules that serve as building blocks for proteins and whose nitrogen atoms hold an extra neutron. — Amina Khan, latimes.com, "A search for some of Earth’s most extreme creatures in the West Coast's deepest underwater canyon," 20 Apr. 2018

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