See Also: atomic(dictionary)
Atomic(medicine)
atomic(dictionary)
atomic energy(dictionary)
atomic bomb(dictionary)
atomic weight(encyclopedia)
atomic (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
atomic volume(medicine)
atomic theory(medicine)
atomic number(medicine)

atomic (iou)



atomic adjective. L17.
[mod. Latin atomicus, from atomus: see ATOM, -IC.]
Of or pertaining to atoms; about or concerned with atoms. L17.
Discovery The quantum of action..forms the foundation of atomic physics. N. Calder All geology and all life are a continual reordering of the same atomic ingredients.
b. spec. Of, pertaining to, or connected with atoms as a source of power or destructive force; nuclear; employing or driven by nuclear energy; possessing or employing nuclear weapons. E20.
H. G. Wells Destined to see atomic energy dominating every other source of power. Daily Telegraph How atomic power might be used to maintain the future peace. A. Boyd The arrival of the 'atomic age'. O. Bradley The way to win an atomic war is to make sure it never starts. A. Koestler The only deterrent against atomic aggression is an atomic stockpile. Times The Soviet atomic icebreaker Lenin left Leningrad to-day on her maiden voyage.
Adhering to the doctrine of the atomism of matter. L17.
Like atoms in size; minute. E19.
H. Edib Flies, with atomic specks of brilliant red and green on their wings.
Simple, elemental; esp. in Philosophy, (of a proposition etc.) unanalysable, ultimate. L19.
D. R. Hofstadter The dissection can go only so far, and then we hit the 'atomic' nature of reasoning processes.
Existing in the form of separate atoms. Opp. molecular. E20.
Special collocations: atomic bomb: deriving its destructiveness from the release of nuclear energy. atomic clock an instrument which uses atomic vibrations as a standard of time. atomic heat the heat capacity of one gram-atom of an element. atomic mass = relative atomic mass s.v. RELATIVE adjective; atomic mass unit, a unit of relative atomic mass equal to 1 / 12 the mass of an atom of the isotope carbon-12. atomic number the number of protons present in the nucleus of an atom of an element. atomic particle a subatomic particle. atomic philosophy = ATOMISM 1. atomic pile = PILE noun4 6. atomic theory (a) = ATOMISM 1; (b) the theory that chemical elements consist of atoms of definite relative weight combining with those of other elements in fixed proportions. atomic volume the volume occupied by one gram-atom of an element under standard conditions. atomic weight = relative atomic mass s.v. RELATIVE adjective.
atomical adjective (now rare) M17.
atomically adverb L17.