From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishelectrone‧lec‧tron /ɪˈlektrɒn $ -trɑːn/ noun [countable] HPa very small piece of matter with a negative electrical charge that moves around the nucleus (=central part) of an atom → proton, neutron
Examples from the Corpus
electron• Although small, these single crystals can be studied using an electron microscope.• The world it presents is populated by entities such as electrons and quarks.• Crystal cleanliness and crystallinity were checked by Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction, respectively.• In electron sharing, a shared electron can not be considered to have been gained or lost.• The valency of an atom in a covalent molecule is the number of electrons shared by the atom in forming the bond.• Screen-printed silver metal contacts on the surface of the wafer collect the streams of electrons and produce an electric current.• This leaves one electron on each carbon atom unaccounted for.• How near depends on the electron energy.Origin electron (1800-1900) electro- + -on (as in ion) 