RF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does RF mean? 

• RF (noun)
  The noun RF has 3 senses:

1. a substance produced by the hypothalamus that is capable of accelerating the secretion of a given hormone by the anterior pituitary gland

2. a radioactive transuranic element which has been synthesized

3. a complex neural network in the central core of the brainstem; monitors the state of the body and functions in such processes as arousal and sleep and attention and muscle tone

  Familiarity information: RF used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance produced by the hypothalamus that is capable of accelerating the secretion of a given hormone by the anterior pituitary gland

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

releasing factor; releasing hormone; RF

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

factor (anything that contributes causally to a result)

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

GHRF; growth hormone-releasing factor (a releasing factor that accelerates the secretion of growth hormone by the anterior pituitary body)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A radioactive transuranic element which has been synthesized

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 104; element 104; Rf; rutherfordium; unnilquadium; Unq

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

chemical element; element (any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A complex neural network in the central core of the brainstem; monitors the state of the body and functions in such processes as arousal and sleep and attention and muscle tone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

reticular formation; RF

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

neural net; neural network (any network of neurons or nuclei that function together to perform some function in the body)

Meronyms (parts of "RF"):

RAS; reticular activating system (the network in the reticular formation that serves an alerting or arousal function)

Holonyms ("RF" is a part of...):

brain-stem; brain stem; brainstem (the part of the brain continuous with the spinal cord and comprising the medulla oblongata and pons and midbrain and parts of the hypothalamus)

 Context examples 

Testing the RF shield around the coils of an MRI device for its ability to provide effective screening against electrical (eddy) currents induced by gradient switching.

(Device Gradient Induced Field Effect Testing Evaluation Method, Food and Drug Administration)

They give off radio-frequency energy (RF), a form of electromagnetic radiation.

(Electromagnetic Fields, NIH: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

Plasma that is produced using a torch and a radio frequency (RF) generator, wherein flowing gases are introduced into the torch, the RF field is activated and the gas in the RF coil region is made electrically conductive.

(Inductively-Coupled Plasma, NCI Thesaurus)