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PARTICLE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A function word that can be used in English to form phrasal verbs
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("particle" is a kind of...):
closed-class word; function word (a word that is uninflected and serves a grammatical function but has little identifiable meaning)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A body having finite mass and internal structure but negligible dimensions
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("particle" is a kind of...):
body (an individual 3-dimensional object that has mass and that is distinguishable from other objects)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "particle"):
thermion (an electrically charged particle (electron or ion) emitted by a substance at a high temperature)
superstring (a hypothetical particle that is the elementary particle in a theory of space-time)
scintilla (a sparkling glittering particle)
virino ((microbiology) a hypothetical infectious particle thought to be the cause of scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the central nervous system; consists of nucleic acid in a protective coat of host cell proteins)
prion ((microbiology) an infectious protein particle similar to a virus but lacking nucleic acid; thought to be the agent responsible for scrapie and other degenerative diseases of the nervous system)
micelle (an electrically charged particle built up from polymeric molecules or ions and occurring in certain colloidal electrolytic solutions like soaps and detergents)
magnetic monopole (a hypothetical particle with a single magnetic pole instead of the usual two)
ion (a particle that is electrically charged (positive or negative); an atom or molecule or group that has lost or gained one or more electrons)
fermion (any particle that obeys Fermi-Dirac statistics and is subject to the Pauli exclusion principle)
elementary particle; fundamental particle ((physics) a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter)
deuteron (the nucleus of deuterium; consists of one proton and one neutron; used as a bombarding particle in accelerators)
boson (any particle that obeys Bose-Einstein statistics but not the Pauli exclusion principle; all nuclei with an even mass number are bosons)
beta particle (a high-speed electron or positron emitted in the decay of a radioactive isotope)
alpha particle (a positively charged particle that is the nucleus of the helium atom; emitted from natural or radioactive isotopes)
virion ((virology) a complete viral particle; nucleic acid and capsid (and a lipid envelope in some viruses))
Sense 3
Meaning:
(nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything
Synonyms:
atom; corpuscle; molecule; mote; particle; speck
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("particle" is a kind of...):
material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "particle"):
grain (a relatively small granular particle of a substance)
grinding (material resulting from the process of grinding)
chylomicron (a microscopic particle of triglycerides produced in the intestines during digestion; in the bloodstream they release their fatty acids into the blood)
flyspeck (a tiny dark speck made by the excrement of a fly)
identification particle (a tiny particle of material that can be added to a product to indicate the source of manufacture)
Context examples:
Don’t you see? How can two particles of the yeast wrong each other by striving to devour each other?
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Exposure to asbestos particles in the air increases the risk of developing malignant mesothelioma.
(Mesothelioma, NCI Dictionary)
The smallest particle of a substance that has all of the physical and chemical properties of that substance.
(Molecule, NCI Dictionary)
For example, nanoparticles can absorb small particles of iron, thereby allowing magnetic control.
(Nanosphere, NCI Thesaurus)
An integral component of HIV-1 particles.
(NEF Protein, NCI Thesaurus)
The portion of the rodent stomach that is responsible for storage and digestion of food particles but does not contain the gastric mucosa-associated glands.
(Nonglandular Stomach, NCI Thesaurus)
Nucleosome core particle, linker DNA and histone H1 comprise one structural unit of chromatin, nucleosome.
(Nucleosome Core Particle, NCI Thesaurus)
Substances that have holes or pores on the nanoscale, used, for example, to separate particles or molecules by size.
(Nanoporous, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
A type of immune cell that has granules (small particles) with enzymes that can kill tumor cells or cells infected with a virus.
(Natural killer cell, NCI Dictionary)
Treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections with medications that target the virus directly, limiting the ability of infected cells to produce new HIV particles.
(Anti-HIV Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)
