NUCLEAR FUSION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does nuclear fusion mean? 

• NUCLEAR FUSION (noun)
  The noun NUCLEAR FUSION has 1 sense:

1. a nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

  Familiarity information: NUCLEAR FUSION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NUCLEAR FUSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A nuclear reaction in which nuclei combine to form more massive nuclei with the simultaneous release of energy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

fusion; nuclear fusion; nuclear fusion reaction

Hypernyms ("nuclear fusion" is a kind of...):

nuclear reaction ((physics) a process that alters the energy or structure or composition of atomic nuclei)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nuclear fusion"):

cold fusion (nuclear fusion at or near room temperatures; claims to have discovered it are generally considered to have been mistaken)

thermonuclear reaction (a nuclear fusion reaction taking place at very high temperatures (as in the sun))

 Context examples 

It could be a brown dwarf, a star-like object whose core is not hot enough to generate energy through nuclear fusion.

('Iceball' Planet Discovered Through Microlensing, NASA)

Their mass is too small for full nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium (with a consequent release of energy) to take place, but they are usually significantly more massive than planets.

(Astronomers Identify Purest, Most Massive Brown Dwarf, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

When π1 Gruis ran out of hydrogen to burn long ago, this ancient star ceased the first stage of its nuclear fusion programme.

(Giant Bubbles on Red Giant Star’s Surface, ESO)

Stars are sustained by the nuclear fusion that occurs in their core, which creates energy.

(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)

The clumps gravitationally collapse in on themselves, growing denser and hotter in their cores until nuclear fusion ignites and a star is born.

(Herschel sees budding stars and a giant, strange ring, NASA)

An international team of astronomers has identified a record breaking brown dwarf (a star too small for nuclear fusion) with the 'purest' composition and the highest mass yet known.

(Astronomers Identify Purest, Most Massive Brown Dwarf, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The nuclear fusion processes constantly try to rip the star apart.

(Hubble Views Final Stages of a Star’s Life, ESA/NASA)