tachyon
Americannoun
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a hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light.
noun
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physics a hypothetical elementary particle capable of travelling faster than the velocity of light
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A hypothetical subatomic particle that travels faster than the speed of light. Although the principles of relativity forbid the acceleration of a particle past the speed of light, they do not prohibit the existence of particles that have always moved faster than that speed. No such particle has ever been detected.
Etymology
Origin of tachyon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It seemed like the two of them had killed all of the attacking Kavalrymen, but someone appears behind the tachyon cannon just long enough to fire it, and Doctor Manhattan is teleported away.
From Slate • Dec. 8, 2019
Q. How do you spell this tachyon thing?
From Time Magazine Archive
Like a plane going faster than the speed of sound, a tachyon with an electrical charge would generate a "light boom" as it traveled faster than 186,000 m.p.s.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.