1 tokamak | Definition of tokamak

tokamak

noun
to·​ka·​mak | \ ˈtō-kə-ˌmak How to pronounce tokamak (audio) , ˈtä- How to pronounce tokamak (audio) \
variants: or less commonly tokomak

Definition of tokamak

: a toroidal device for producing controlled nuclear fusion that involves the confining and heating of a gaseous plasma by means of an electric current and magnetic field

Examples of tokamak in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The stellarator, however, traps the plasma in a twisting and spiraling shape, rather than the torus (doughnut shape) of a tokamak. Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "German Nuclear Fusion Experiment Sets Records for Stellarator Reactor," 26 June 2018 Assembly [of the tokamak] will be quite challenging and hard to stay on schedule. Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, "Knighthood in hand, astrophysicist prepares to lead U.S. fusion lab," 19 June 2018 The device, a magnetic-confinement fusion reactor named for the sun, was shoved to the side after Soviet scientists revealed their tokamak design to the world in 1968. Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "German Nuclear Fusion Experiment Sets Records for Stellarator Reactor," 26 June 2018 Spherical tokamaks do this by seeking to hold the plasma in the center of the device, close to the central column. Daniel Clery, Science | AAAS, "Knighthood in hand, astrophysicist prepares to lead U.S. fusion lab," 19 June 2018 For a tokamak, that is fine because the field has to terminate somewhere, and the device operates in pulses. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Stellarator’s plasma results show a triumph of engineering and modeling," 23 May 2018 And the best results were 3.5 times better than for an equivalent tokamak device. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Stellarator’s plasma results show a triumph of engineering and modeling," 23 May 2018 Antennas outside the tokamak use a specific frequency of radio waves to excite the particles. Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "MIT Achieves Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion," 28 Aug. 2017 The stellarator and the tokamak are the only two designs that survived from a multitude of concepts that were explored in the 1950s and '60s. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, "Placing humans at center of computer optimization yields hot plasmas," 30 July 2017

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

See More

First Known Use of tokamak

1965, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for tokamak

Russian, from toroidal'naya kamera s aksial'nym magnitnym polem (toroidal chamber with an axial magnetic field)

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on tokamak

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with tokamak

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about tokamak