REACTOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reactor mean? 

• REACTOR (noun)
  The noun REACTOR has 2 senses:

1. an electrical device used to introduce reactance into a circuit

2. (physics) any of several kinds of apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of energy or artificial elements

  Familiarity information: REACTOR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REACTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An electrical device used to introduce reactance into a circuit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("reactor" is a kind of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

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

coil (reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(physics) any of several kinds of apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of energy or artificial elements

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

nuclear reactor; reactor

Hypernyms ("reactor" is a kind of...):

apparatus; setup (equipment designed to serve a specific function)

Meronyms (parts of "reactor"):

control rod (a steel or aluminum rod that can be moved up or down to control the rate of the nuclear reaction)

core (the chamber of a nuclear reactor containing the fissile material where the reaction takes place)

moderator (any substance used to slow down neutrons in nuclear reactors)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

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

atomic pile; atomic reactor; chain reactor; pile (a nuclear reactor that uses controlled nuclear fission to generate energy)

breeder reactor (a nuclear reactor that produces more fissile material than it burns)

fast reactor (nuclear reactor in which nuclear fissions are caused by fast neutrons because little or no moderator is used)

gas-cooled reactor (a nuclear reactor using gas as a coolant)

liquid metal reactor (a nuclear reactor using liquid metal as a coolant)

thermal reactor (a nuclear reactor in which nuclear fissions are caused by neutrons that are slowed down by a moderator)

fusion reactor; thermonuclear reactor (a nuclear reactor that uses controlled nuclear fusion to generate energy)

water-cooled reactor (nuclear reactor using water as a coolant)

 Context examples 

That star likely represents the smallest natural fusion reactor that we know of.

(Astronomers discover smallest known star, Wikinews)

Beryllium fluoride is mainly used to produce beryllium metal and alloys and is also used in the production of glass and nuclear reactors.

(Beryllium Fluoride, NCI Thesaurus)

The sun is our nearest star — a gigantic nuclear reactor that burns about 5 million tons of hydrogen fuel every second.

(Newest solar telescope produces first images, National Science Foundation)

Calcium nitrate is used in the production of cadmium hydroxide for use in alkaline batteries, to color glass and porcelain, in photography and in nuclear reactors.

(Cadmium Nitrate, NCI Thesaurus)

It is used in high-technology ceramics, electronic heat sinks, electrical insulators, high-power devices, high-density electrical circuits, microwaves, X-ray windows, nuclear reactor fuels and for various aerospace and military applications.

(Beryllium Oxide, NCI Thesaurus)

A research team led by ecologists Sunita Shah Walter of the University of Delaware and Peter Girguis of Harvard University has shown that underground aquifers near the undersea Mid-Atlantic Ridge act like natural biological reactors, pulling in cold, oxygenated seawater, and allowing microbes to consume more refractory carbon than scientists believed.

(Microbes in underground aquifers beneath deep-sea Mid-Atlantic Ridge 'chow down' on carbon, National Science Foundation)