noun
plasma
A state of matter consisting of gas with electrically charged particles.
The chamber contains a glowing plasma.
Etymology
The Greek noun means something molded or formed. Physics adopted the established scientific word for ionized gas, whose charged particles collectively produce distinctive behavior.
More examples
- The gas became plasma at very high temperature.
- Researchers studied the motion of the plasma.
- Electric and magnetic fields affected the plasma.
Forms
plasma · plasmas
Similar words
- ionized gas
- A plain description of the charged-particle state.