xenon
noun
xe·non
| \ ˈzē-ˌnän
, ˈze-
\
, ˈze-
\
Definition of xenon
: a heavy colorless and relatively inert gaseous element that occurs in air as about one part in 20 million and is used especially in specialized electric lamps (such as flashtubes) and in scientific research — see Chemical Elements Table
Examples of xenon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Pretty much nothing reacts with xenon, especially a mile underground, making it the ideal dark matter detector. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Dark Matter Scientists Observe the Rarest Event in History," 27 Apr. 2019 No xenon to futz with, or wings to flap, or rotors to spin. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "An Itty-Bitty Robot That Lifts Off Like a Sci-Fi Spaceship," 4 July 2019 One of those is the XENON observatory, which is essentially a giant tank containing 3.5 tons of liquid xenon sitting in a laboratory nearly a mile underground. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Dark Matter Scientists Observe the Rarest Event in History," 27 Apr. 2019 Then wait for a passing WIMP to bang into a xenon atom’s nucleus. — Quanta Magazine, "In the Deep, a Drive to Find Dark Matter," 20 Dec. 2016 One of Brown’s areas of study is trying to capture dark matter interactions with normal matter in the form of liquid xenon isotopes. — Joe Lindsey, Popular Mechanics, "Filling the Void: What Is Dark Matter?," 28 May 2019 His prototype uses lithium ions, which are much lighter than the xenon ions Dawn used, and therefore need less energy to attain higher velocities. — Corey S. Powell, Discover Magazine, "These New Technologies Could Make Interstellar Travel Real," 13 Mar. 2019 Mercury is much heavier than either xenon or krypton, so spacecraft carrying them would be able to generate more thrust. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Space Startup Apollo Fusion Wants To Use Mercury as a Fuel—Report," 20 Nov. 2018 An electric propulsion engine—such as a Hall thruster that ionizes xenon gas—has a high specific impulse, as much as 10 times that of NTP. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "NASA's Nuclear Thermal Engine Is a Blast From the Cold War Past," 21 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'xenon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for xenon
xenon
noun
English Language Learners Definition of xenon
: a chemical element that is a colorless gas and that is used especially in electric lights
See the full definition for xenon in the English Language Learners Dictionary
xenon
noun
xe·non
| \ ˈzē-ˌnän
, ˈzen-ˌän
\
, ˈzen-ˌän
\
Medical Definition of xenon
: a heavy, colorless, and relatively inert gaseous element that occurs in air as about one part in 20 million by volume
—symbol Xe
— see Chemical Elements Table
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