WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does weakly interacting massive particle mean? 

• WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE (noun)
  The noun WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE has 1 sense:

1. a hypothetical subatomic particle of large mass that interacts weakly with ordinary matter through gravitation; postulated as a constituent of the dark matter of the universe

  Familiarity information: WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WEAKLY INTERACTING MASSIVE PARTICLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A hypothetical subatomic particle of large mass that interacts weakly with ordinary matter through gravitation; postulated as a constituent of the dark matter of the universe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

weakly interacting massive particle; WIMP

Hypernyms ("weakly interacting massive particle" is a kind of...):

elementary particle; fundamental particle ((physics) a particle that is less complex than an atom; regarded as constituents of all matter)

Domain category:

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

Domain usage:

acronym; initialism (a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name and pronounced as one word)

Holonyms ("weakly interacting massive particle" is a part of...):

dark matter ((cosmology) a hypothetical form of matter that is believed to make up 90 percent of the universe; it is invisible (does not absorb or emit light) and does not collide with atomic particles but exerts gravitational force)