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unstable |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.07 sec. |
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unstable 1. (of a chemical compound) readily decomposing 2. Physics a. (of an elementary particle) having a very short lifetime b. spontaneously decomposing by nuclear decay; radioactive 3. Electronics (of an electrical circuit, mechanical body, etc.) having a tendency to self-oscillation unstable [¦ən′stā·bəl] (physics) Capable of undergoing spontaneous change, as in a radioactive nuclide or an excited nuclear system. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| Similarly, you may sometimes find on a mountain-side a large rock poised so delicately that a touch will set it crashing down into the valley, while the rocks all round are so firm that only a considerable force can dislodge them What is analogous in these two cases is the existence of a great store of energy in unstable equilibrium ready to burst into violent motion by the addition of a very slight disturbance. Nor would I now attempt to trace The more than beauty of a face Whose lineaments, upon my mind, Are -- shadows on th' unstable wind: Thus I remember having dwelt Some page of early lore upon, With loitering eye, till I have felt The letters - with their meaning - melt To fantasies - with none. The steerage was the lair of this pack, and, out of the steerage, it ranged the whole world, which was the Mary Turner ever rocking, heeling, reeling on the surface of the unstable sea. |
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