ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE
Dictionary entry overview: What does electromagnetic wave mean?
• ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE (noun)
The noun ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE has 1 sense:
1. radiation consisting of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic fields resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge
Familiarity information: ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
• ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE (noun)
Meaning:
Radiation consisting of waves of energy associated with electric and magnetic fields resulting from the acceleration of an electric charge
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Synonyms:
electromagnetic radiation; electromagnetic wave; nonparticulate radiation
Hypernyms ("electromagnetic wave" is a kind of...):
radiation (energy that is radiated or transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles)
Meronyms (parts of "electromagnetic wave"):
photon (a quantum of electromagnetic radiation; an elementary particle that is its own antiparticle)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "electromagnetic wave"):
actinic radiation; actinic ray (electromagnetic radiation that can produce photochemical reactions)
beam; electron beam; ray (a group of nearly parallel lines of electromagnetic radiation)
black-body radiation; blackbody radiation (the electromagnetic radiation that would be radiated from an ideal black body; the distribution of energy in the radiated spectrum of a black body depends only on temperature and is determined by Planck's radiation law)
Hertzian wave (an electromagnetic wave generated by oscillations in an electric circuit)
gamma radiation; gamma ray (electromagnetic radiation emitted during radioactive decay and having an extremely short wavelength)
line (a single frequency (or very narrow band) of radiation in a spectrum)
microwave (a short electromagnetic wave (longer than infrared but shorter than radio waves); used for radar and microwave ovens and for transmitting telephone, facsimile, video and data)
radio emission; radio radiation; radio wave (an electromagnetic wave with a wavelength between 0.5 cm to 30,000 m)
roentgen ray; X ray; X-radiation; X-ray (electromagnetic radiation of short wavelength produced when high-speed electrons strike a solid target)
