spallation

noun

spall·​ation spȯ-ˈlā-shən 

1

: a nuclear reaction in which light particles are ejected as the result of bombardment (as by high-energy protons)

2

: the process of spalling

Examples of spallation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Muons can also be formed in cosmic-ray spallation, wherein a cosmic ray enters Earth's atmosphere and collides with a molecule or atom, smashing it apart into a shower of subatomic particles. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 16 May 2025

Those protons smashing and staying put creates the right kind of actinium through a process called spallation. —Sarah Scoles, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2024

In a process called spallation, high-energy cosmic rays from exploding stars can ram into interstellar gas particles, says Pierre Salati, a particle astrophysicist at the Annecy-le-Vieux Particle Physics Laboratory, who worked on Poulin’s 2019 study. —Leto Sapunar, Scientific American, 7 June 2021

Are there a sufficient number of meteorites slamming into planets to launch life-seeding rocks through space (a.k.a. cause spallation)? —Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for spallation

• ablation
• bination
• carnation
• cassation
• castration
• causation
• centration
• cessation
• cetacean
• chelation
• citation
• collation