meson

noun

me·son | \ ˈme-ˌzän

, ˈme-ˌsän, ˈmā-ˌzän, ˈmā-ˌsän

, ˈmē-ˌzän

, ˈmē-ˌsän

Definition of meson

: any of a group of fundamental particles (such as the pion and kaon) made up of a quark and an antiquark that are subject to the strong force and have zero or an integer number of quantum units of spin

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Other Words from meson

mesonic \ me-ˈzä-nik

, me-ˈsä- , mā-ˈzä- , mā-ˈsä-

, mē-ˈzä- , mē-ˈsä-

\ adjective

Examples of meson in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The lightest pentaquark has a mass just below the sum of a particular baryon and meson that together contain the correct quark ingredients. — Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Exotic particles called pentaquarks may be less weird than previously thought," 5 June 2019 The heavier pentaquarks have masses just below the sum of the same baryon and a related meson with extra internal energy. — Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Exotic particles called pentaquarks may be less weird than previously thought," 5 June 2019 But the rho meson turned out to be something of a special case, and the bootstrap method soon lost momentum. — Quanta Magazine, "Physicists Uncover Geometric ‘Theory Space’," 23 Feb. 2017 Then there are dozens of particles made up of those elementary particles, including hadrons, which are constructed of quarks and gluons, and mesons, made of a quark and anti-quark. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "The Large Hadron Collider Is Getting A Huge Power Boost," 19 June 2018 However, measurements at the CERN collider have shown a definite propensity for the mesons to underproduce muons, as reported at CERN in April. — Dennis Overbye, New York Times, "Yearning for New Physics at CERN, in a Post-Higgs Way," 19 June 2017

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