Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various microscopic particles, especially a single molecule such as a buckminsterfullerene, with dimensions in the nanometer range.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any microscopic particle less than about 100 nanometers (nm) in diameter. In aerosol science, the term is often reserved for particles less than 50 nm in diameter; the term "ultrafine particles" is used for particles less than 100 nm in diameter.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Researchers at International Business Machines Corp. said they developed a tiny drug, called a nanoparticle, that in test-tube experiments showed promise as a weapon against dangerous superbugs that have become resistant to antibiotics.

    Big Blue's Tiny Bug Zapper Ron Winslow 2011

  • Researchers at IBM said they developed a tiny drug, called a nanoparticle, that in test-tube experiments showed promise as a weapon against dangerous superbugs that have become resistant to antibiotics.

    WHO Calls for Action on Superbugs Sten Stovall 2011

  • The new transistor, called the nanoparticle organic memory field-effect transistor, or NOMFET for short, does it with just one.

    Livescience.com 2010

  • "Our nanoparticle is a foreign body just like a viral vector is, but it has a self-destructive mechanism so it does not generate a strong response from the immune system," said Chenguang Zhou, a lead author of the study.

    Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine 2010

  • The resulting device is called a nanoparticle organic memory field-effect transistor or "NOMFET".

    Science Fiction in the News 2010

  • The new transistor, called the nanoparticle organic memory field-effect transistor, or NOMFET for short, does it with just one.

    Livescience.com 2010

  • Scientists at Leicester University hope to develop a new kind of nanoparticle that could improve cancer treatment and MRI scans.

    The Engineer - News 2010

  • While this recognition with respect to hazard is contentious, there is no hesitation to provide intellectual property rights via patents to each new kind of nanoparticle to identify it as "new."

    MRZine.org 2009

  • But the use of the term "nanoparticle" here is so vague as to be a smear once it reaches a pop - science level blog like this.

    Boing Boing 2009

  • A paper published by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers now confirms that at least one kind of nanoparticle can penetrate a human's most resistant line of defense against foreign particles: the skin.

    DailyTech Main News Feed 2008

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