DictionaryAI

particle

noun
PAR-ti-kuhl/ˈpɑɹtɪkəl/UKPAH-ti-kuhl/ˈpɑːtɪk(ə)l/

Pluralparticles

6 meanings of particle

Practice

  1. 1
    tiny piecenouncountable
    A tiny piece of something, sometimes the smallest piece there can be.

    A particle of sand got into my eye.

    The air was full of smoke particles after the fire.

    Similarfragment, bit, piece, crumb, flake

    Note
  2. 2
    physicsnouncountable
    One of the very tiny things that atoms are made of.

    An electron is a particle with a negative charge.

    Scientists use huge machines to study tiny particles.

    Note
  3. 3
    small amountnouncountable
    A very small amount of something.

    He didn't show a particle of interest in the game.

    She did not feel a particle of guilt.

    Similarbit, iota, grain, atom, hint

    Note
  4. 4
    grammar markernouncountable
    A small word that means nothing alone and works only with another word, like "to" in "to eat."

    In "I want to swim," the word "to" is a particle.

    Japanese uses small particles to show what each word is doing in a sentence.

    Note
  5. 5
    words without endingsnouncountable
    A kind of word that never changes its form, like "and" or "under."

    In Latin class, we learned that a particle never changes its ending.

    Old grammar books group small words like "and," "with," and "often" together as particles.

    Note
  6. 6
    holy breadnouncountable
    In the Catholic Church, a crumb of holy bread from Mass, or a small bread given to people at Communion.

    After Mass, the priest carefully cleaned the plate so no particle was left.

    There were enough particles in the bowl for everyone at Communion.

    Similarhost, wafer

    Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin particula, meaning “a small part”.