Phrase guide

nuclear reaction

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A process such as the fission of an atomic nucleus, or the fusion of one or more atomic nuclei and/or subatomic particles in which the number of protons and/or neutrons in a nucleus changes; the reaction products may contain a different element or a different isotope of the same element.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: natural process, natural action, action, activity

Narrower terms: chain reaction, decay, radioactive decay, disintegration, endoergic reaction, exoergic reaction, fission, nuclear fission, fusion, nuclear fusion, nuclear fusion reaction, spallation

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: kernreaksie — process
  • Arabic: تفاعل نووي — process
  • Basque: erreakzio nuklear — process
  • Bulgarian: я́дрена реа́кция (jádrena reákcija) — process
  • Chinese Cantonese: 核反應 /核反应 (hat6 faan2 jing3) — process
  • Chinese Mandarin: 核反應 /核反应 (héfǎnyìng) — process
  • Czech: jaderná reakce — process
  • Danish: kernereaktion — process
  • Dutch: nucleaire reactie — process
  • Dutch: kernreactie — process
  • Faroese: kjarnandgerð — process
  • Finnish: ydinreaktio — process
  • French: réaction nucléaire — process
  • Georgian: ბირთვული რეაქცია (birtvuli reakcia) — process
  • German: Kernreaktion — process
  • Hindi: नाभिकीय अभिक्रिया (nābhikīya abhikriyā) — process
  • Hungarian: magreakció — process
  • Icelandic: kjarnahvarf — process
  • Icelandic: kjarnahvörf — process
  • Italian: reazione nucleare — process
  • Japanese: 核反応 (kakuhannō) — process
  • Korean: 핵반응 (haekbaneung) — process
  • Latvian: kodolreakcija — process
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kjernereaksjon — process
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kjernereaksjon — process
  • Persian: واکنش هستهای — process
  • Polish: reakcja jądrowa — process
  • Portuguese: reação nuclear — process
  • Romanian: reacție nucleară — process
  • Russian: я́дерная реа́кция (jádernaja reákcija) — process
  • Spanish: reacción nuclear — process
  • Swedish: kärnreaktion — process
  • Tagalog: buturing tambisa — process
  • Thai: ปฏิกิริยานิวเคลียร์ (bpà-dtì-gì-rí-yaa-niu-kliia) — process
  • Turkish: nükleer reaksiyon — process
  • Turkish: nükleer tepkime — process
  • Ukrainian: я́дерна реа́кція (jáderna reákcija) — process
  • Vietnamese: phản ứng hạt nhân — process
  • Welsh: adwaith niwclear — process