absolute zero

The theoretical temperature at which substances possess no thermal energy, equal to 0 K, -273.15°C, or -459.67°F.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

absolute zero

(General Physics) the lowest temperature theoretically attainable, at which the particles constituting matter would be in the lowest energy states available; the zero of thermodynamic temperature; zero on the International Practical Scale of Temperature: equivalent to –273.15°C or –459.67°F

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ab′solute ze′ro

the temperature of −273.16°C (−459.69°F), the hypothetical point at which all molecular activity ceases.

absolute zero

The lowest possible temperature of matter, at which all molecules stop moving. Absolute zero is equal to -459.67°F or -273.15°C.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

absolute zero - (cryogenics) the lowest temperature theoretically attainable (at which the kinetic energy of atoms and molecules is minimal); 0 Kelvin or -273.15 centigrade or -459.67 Fahrenheit

temperature - the degree of hotness or coldness of a body or environment (corresponding to its molecular activity)

cryogenics, cryogeny - the branch of physics that studies the phenomena that occur at very low temperatures

Translations

zero absolut

cero absoluto

absoluuttinen nollapiste

zéro absolu

apsolutna nula

zero assoluto

абсолютный нуль

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

John Barleycorn sends his White Logic, the argent messenger of truth beyond truth, the antithesis of life, cruel and bleak as interstellar space, pulseless and frozen as absolute zero, dazzling with the frost of irrefragable logic and unforgettable fact.

View in context

From this absolute zero of fertility, the pollen of different species of the same genus applied to the stigma of some one species, yields a perfect gradation in the number of seeds produced, up to nearly complete or even quite complete fertility; and, as we have seen, in certain abnormal cases, even to an excess of fertility, beyond that which the plant's own pollen will produce.

View in context

Attach the Absolute Zero to the riflescope by installing the mount ring with the four provided screws.

Axeon Absolute Zero

Much of this research is evident in the works of the exhibition Absolute Zero.

A closer look at art

One challenge is the bytes that the scientists assembled were stable for only a few hours at temperatures barely above absolute zero: about 0.5 Kelvin or -458 degrees Fahrenheit.

IBM researchers store a bit on 12 atoms

Bond; I expect you to die," as a laser beam inched its way toward James Bond and threatened to cut him in half, lasers have been thought of as white-hot beams of intensely focused energy capable of burning through anything in their path.Now a team of Yale physicists has used lasers for a completely different purpose, employing them to cool molecules down to temperatures near what's known as absolute zero, about -460 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists Using Lasers to Cool, Control Molecules

Absolute Zero Viola Quartet will play works by Corelli, Brahms, Bach, Elgar Bruch and others.

WHAT'SON

Choose between warm and spicy 100 Degrees or refreshing Absolute Zero fragrances.

Man's best friends

While glycolaldehyde was found once before, nine years ago, it was in a place where the temperature was near absolute zero. Now, Beltran's team has found glycolaldehyde in a relatively warm (300 degrees above absolute zero) and dense star-forming region of the Milky Way, where conditions are ripe for the birth of planetary systems.

What we are really

An atomic clock consists of gas atoms trapped in a magnetic field and cooled almost to absolute zero, or minus 273 Celsius, the coldest temperature permitted by the laws of physics.

And the correct time is..