Recent Examples on the WebOnly an event like a neutron star that blasted the particles with ultraviolet or X-ray radiation could have ionized the atoms.—Elizabeth Gamillo, Discover Magazine, 22 Feb. 2024 The electrical power to strip away electrons and ionize the fuel will come from two five-panel solar wings capable of generating 21 kilowatts near Earth, dropping to between 2.3 and 3.4 kilowatts at Psyche's distance from the sun.—William Harwood, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2023 But comparing the amount of radiation needed to ionize the atoms to the amount gusting from the quasar showed that there wasn’t nearly enough.—Amber Jorgenson, Discover Magazine, 19 Mar. 2019 Prions are highly resistant to destruction or denaturation by common chemical and physical agents such as disinfectants, formalin, heat, UV or ionizing radiation.—Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Oct. 2023 Medical Diagnostics and Research Magnetic-resonance imaging is a popular diagnostic tool, thanks to its superior soft-tissue imaging and lack of ionizing radiation.—IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2023 Medical x-ray images can produce ionizing radiation.—WIRED, 8 Sep. 2023 High-energy ionizing radiation, like the type from the atomic bombs, harms living cells by blasting electrons out of atoms.—Monique Brouillette, Popular Mechanics, 28 Aug. 2023 Since then, radiation has evolved into treatments that include modern brachytherapy, inserting a radioactive source into a tumor, and focused beams of ionizing radiation that kill off cells while incurring as little off-target damage as possible.—Angus Chen, STAT, 15 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ionize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
ion + -ize, after German ionisiren (now ionisieren) or French ioniser
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