: any of several elementary particles that are postulated to come in pairs (as in the up and down varieties) of similar mass with one member having a charge of +²/₃ and the other a charge of −¹/₃ and are held to make up hadrons

Examples of quark in a Sentence

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Fermilab physicists discovered the massive bottom quark, the heavier top quark, and the wispy tau neutrino. Byadrian Cho, science.org, 4 Oct. 2024 One of the goals is to better understand the force inside gluons, which hold the quarks together (the building blocks of protons and neutrons) and is known as the strongest force in nature. Michael Franco, New Atlas, 11 Oct. 2024 The Standard Model of Particle Physics describes the fundamental particles that make up all matter, like quarks and electrons, as well as the particles that mediate their interactions through forces like electromagnetism and the weak force. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 9 Apr. 2024 One is that fermions — those are matter particles like electrons and quarks — interact with space-time in a funny way. Quanta Magazine, 25 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for quark 

Word History

Etymology

coined by Murray Gell-Mann

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of quark was in 1964

Dictionary Entries Near quark

Cite this Entry

“Quark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quark. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

quark

noun
: any of several particles that are believed to be components of heavier particles (as protons or neutrons)

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