noun
uranium
yuu-RAY-nee-uhm
noun
1
A heavy, silvery-grey radioactive metal (element 92), used as fuel in nuclear reactors and in nuclear weapons.
"The reactor is fuelled by enriched uranium."
"Uranium ore is mined and processed before it can be used as fuel."
How to Use Uranium
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA radioactive metal best known as the fuel behind nuclear power and nuclear bombs.
Common pairings
enriched uranium
uranium ore
depleted uranium
Word Forms
uraniums plural, urania plural
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Etymology
Named in 1789 by the chemist Martin Klaproth after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered just a few years earlier.