Word.ws English Dictionary

critical mass

critical mass noun: the minimum amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Noun

critical mass (countable and uncountable, plural critical masses)

  1. (nuclear physics) The minimum amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
    • […] Rhodes calculated the uranium bomb would eventually need “about 42 kilograms – 92.6 pounds,” which Rhodes then stated was approximately 2.8 critical masses. In other words, critical mass can be calculated to be about 15 kilograms.2016, Carter Hydrick, Critical Mass […] , 3rd edition, TrineDay, →ISBN
  2. (broadly, figuratively) The minimum amount of something or the minimum number of people needed to trigger a phenomenon.
    • […] depending on the rare circumstance of there being a critical mass of persons whose combination of interests and resources is high enough to overcome the feasibility problem.1993, Gerald Marwell, Pamela Oliver, The Critical Mass in Collective Action, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 87
    • The critical mass comprises the pioneers of an SNS who pay the start-up costs and set up a circle of acquaintances for newcomers; thereafter new subscribers to a mature SNS can join one after another rather than as a group (Heijden, 2004).2015, Giuseppe Riva, Brenda K. Wiederhold, Pietro Cipresso, editors, The Psychology of Social Networking, volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 204

Proper noun capitalized: Critical Mass

Critical Mass

  1. A direct action event in which bicycle riders travel through city streets as a group.

critical mass meaning in Tamil and Tagalog

critical mass in Tamil

மாறுநிலை நிறை, உய்நிலைப் பொருண்மை

critical mass in Tagalog

the minimum amount of fissile material needed to a nuclear chain reaction
maselang bugat

Forms of critical mass

pluralcritical masses

Questions about critical mass

What does critical mass mean?
Critical mass means the minimum amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
What is critical mass in Tamil?
Critical mass in Tamil is மாறுநிலை நிறை, உய்நிலைப் பொருண்மை. See Critical mass meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is critical mass?
Critical mass can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of critical mass?
The plural of critical mass is critical masses.

Words near critical mass in the dictionary

  1. critical hits
  2. critical illness
  3. critical incident stress management
  4. critical load
  5. critical loads
  6. critical mass
  7. critical masses
  8. critical micelle concentration
  9. critical micelle concentrations
  10. critical opalescence
  11. critical path

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: critical mass (page history and authors); Critical Mass (page history and authors); critical mass (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-critical mass.wav.

Cite this entry: “critical mass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/critical_mass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.