Definitions

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

  • adjective Of or relating to particles that are smaller than an atom.
  • adjective Having dimensions or participating in reactions characteristic of the constituents of the atom.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to the relations of assumed particles or subdivisions of matter smaller than the atom: as, subatomic energy.

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

  • adjective physics Relating to particles that are constituents of the atom, or are smaller than an atom; such as proton, neutron, electron, etc.
  • adjective Relating to any length or mass that is smaller in scale than a the diameter of a hydrogen atom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of smaller than atomic dimensions
  • adjective of or relating to constituents of the atom or forces within the atom

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The absurdity grows even more palpable among astrophysicists who avoid acknowledging the human-friendly pattern in subatomic and cosmic architecture found in the observable universe only by theorizing the existence of an infinite number of unobservable universes in which sovereign randomness has dictated other and more hostile architectures.

    An Interview with Elisabet Sahtouris 2007

  • The absurdity grows even more palpable among astrophysicists who avoid acknowledging the human-friendly pattern in subatomic and cosmic architecture found in the observable universe only by theorizing the existence of an infinite number of unobservable universes in which sovereign randomness has dictated other and more hostile architectures.

    Barney Teaches a "Scientific Fact" 2007

  • His senses enable him to detect objects and energies light years away, and to perceive matter and energy in subatomic detail; he can even see through time, and with concentration can achieve limited perception of past and future events in his general vicinity.

    Marvel Thursday Thirteen - SciFiChick.com 2006

  • To others, it is at the speed of ideas, flickering with neon hues that burn and flare out in subatomic beats.

    last day at thirty-five Dean Francis Alfar 2005

  • Theoretical Physics who did specialize in subatomic particles,

    Gerardus 't Hooft - Autobiography 2000

  • "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics" and the other half jointly to

    The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics - Press Release 2008

  • "for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics"

    Physics 2008 2008

  • Strassler proposed referring to the subatomic particle as "the evanescent yet essential Higgs boson."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Strassler proposed referring to the subatomic particle as "the evanescent yet essential Higgs boson."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • Amico said she was also inspired by the site Who Murdered Robert Wone, which was created by four Washington area men to offer "subatomic" coverage of the unsolved killing of Wone, a lawyer for Radio Free Asia who was killed under mysterious circumstances in the home of a college friend in 2006.

    Blogger aims to chronicle every D.C. homicide victim Annys Shin 2011

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