ALL meanings of nucleus
nu·cle·us
N n - noun nucleus physics: centre of atom 1
- noun nucleus centre, core 1
- noun plural nucleus a central part about which other parts are grouped or gathered; core: A few faithful friends formed the nucleus of the club. 1
- noun plural nucleus Biology. a specialized, usually spherical mass of protoplasm encased in a double membrane, and found in most living eukaryotic cells, directing their growth, metabolism, and reproduction, and functioning in the transmission of genic characters. 1
- noun plural nucleus Physics. the positively charged mass within an atom, composed of neutrons and protons, and possessing most of the mass but occupying only a small fraction of the volume of the atom. 1
- noun plural nucleus Anatomy. a mass of nerve cells in the brain or spinal cord in which nerve fibers form connections. 1
- noun plural nucleus Also called condensation nucleus. Meteorology. a particle upon which condensation of water vapor occurs to form water drops or ice crystals. 1
- noun plural nucleus Chemistry. a fundamental arrangement of atoms, as the benzene ring, that may occur in many compounds by substitution of atoms without a change in structure. 1
- noun plural nucleus Astronomy. the condensed portion of the head of a comet. 1
- noun plural nucleus Phonetics. the central, most prominent segment in a syllable, consisting of a vowel, diphthong, or vowellike consonant, as the a- sound in cat or the l- sound in bottled; peak. the most prominent syllable in an utterance or stress group; tonic syllable. 1
- noun nucleus The central and most important part of an object, movement, or group, forming the basis for its activity and growth. 1
- countable noun nucleus The nucleus of an atom or cell is the central part of it. 0
- countable noun nucleus The nucleus of a group of people or things is the small number of members which form the most important part of the group. 0
- noun nucleus a central or fundamental part or thing around which others are grouped; core 0
- noun nucleus a centre of growth or development; basis; kernel 0
- noun nucleus (in the cells of eukaryotes) a large compartment, bounded by a double membrane, that contains the chromosomes and associated molecules and controls the characteristics and growth of the cell 0
- noun nucleus any of various groups of nerve cells in the central nervous system 0
- noun nucleus the central portion in the head of a comet, consisting of small solid particles of ice and frozen gases, which vaporize on approaching the sun to form the coma and tail 0
- noun nucleus the positively charged dense region at the centre of an atom, composed of protons and neutrons, about which electrons orbit 0
- noun nucleus a fundamental group of atoms in a molecule serving as the base structure for related compounds and remaining unchanged during most chemical reactions 0
- noun nucleus the central point of a starch granule 0
- noun nucleus the most sonorous part of a syllable, usually consisting of a vowel or frictionless continuant 0
- noun nucleus the largest individual that is a mereological part of every member of a given class 0
- noun nucleus a thing or part forming the center around which other things or parts are grouped or collected; core 0
- noun nucleus anything serving as a center of growth or development 0
- noun nucleus a group of nerve cells in the brain or spinal column 0
- noun nucleus the bright central part of the head of a comet 0
- noun nucleus the central, usually spherical or oval mass of protoplasm present in most plant and animal cells, containing most of the hereditary material and necessary to such functions as growth, reproduction, etc. 0
- noun nucleus the central point in a starch grain 0
- noun nucleus the central part of an atom, the fundamental particles of which are the proton and neutron, except for hydrogen, which is usually composed of one proton only: it carries a positive charge and constitutes almost all of the mass of the atom 0
- noun nucleus the most sonorous portion of a syllable, usually a vowel 0
- noun nucleus a fundamental, stable arrangement of atoms that may occur in many compounds by atomic substitution without structural change, as the benzene ring 0