gluon

noun

glu·​on ˈglü-ˌän How to pronounce gluon (audio)
: a hypothetical neutral massless particle held to bind together quarks to form hadrons

Examples of gluon in a Sentence

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Photons transmit the electromagnetic force; gluons hold particles together in the atomic nucleus; and W and Z particles transmit the weak nuclear force, important for some forms of radioactivity. Tom Siegfried, Discover Magazine, 29 Nov. 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 Both the colored gluons and quarks are imprisoned within hadrons. Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024 Deeply locked within the physics of gluon self-interactions, however, is a mechanism that makes gluons behave as heavy particles at low momentum. Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for gluon 

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of gluon was in 1971

Dictionary Entries Near gluon

Cite this Entry

“Gluon.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gluon. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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