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Definition of Half-life
1. Noun. The time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance to disintegrate).
Definition of Half-life
1. Noun. (physics) The time required for half of the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotope to undergo radioactive decay. ¹
2. Noun. (chemistry) In a chemical reaction, the time required for the concentration of a reactant to fall from a chosen value to half that value. ¹
3. Noun. (medicine) The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacological, physiologic, or radiological activity. ¹
4. Noun. The time it takes for an idea or a fashion to lose half of its influential power. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Half-life
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Lexicographical Neighbors of Half-life
Literary usage of Half-life
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story by Andrei Maylunas (2005)
"The half-life of Penk mRNA levels (about 12 h), however, seems not to be affected
by histamine as suggested by measurement of the subsequent decay of Penk ..."
2. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (1903)
"The relationship of body weight to disappearance half-life was examined in each
cir- rhotic subject by linear regression analysis. ..."
3. Potential Groundwater Contamination from Intentional and Nonintentional by Robert Pitt, Shirley Clark, Keith Parmer (1994)
"The volatilization half-life of BCEE in streams was estimated to be about 4 ...
The overall half-life of BCIE was estimated to vary between 3 and 30 days in ..."
4. Fission Gas Behaviour in Water Reactor Fuels: Seminar Proceedings, Cadarache by OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (2002)
"At the end of irradiation, 242Cm (half-life of 163 days) accounts for ...
After this, the plutonium isotopes with long lifetimes - 239Pu (half-life: 24 110 ..."
5. Oxygen/Nitrogen Radicals and Cellular Injury edited by Kenneth B. Adler, Robert D. Devlin, Val Vallyathan (2000)
"IL-4 Prolongs iNOS mRNA Half-Life in Human Airway Epithelial Cells IL-4 inhibits
iNOS expression in some studies and induces 'NO production in other studies ..."
6. Mount Omi and Beyond: A Record of Travel on the Thibetan Border by Archibald John Little (1901)
"... from our Coolies—Thousand Buddhas Precipice— Figures half Life Size—Indian
Type—Bamboos acting as Sounding- boards—Thirteen-storied Pagoda—Junction with ..."
7. The Three Gifts of Life: A Girl's Responsibility for Race Progress by Nellie May Smith (1913)
"Usually these little half-lives are lost; but if one meets the sperm, or male
half-life, before leaving the womb, and unites with it, from that moment the ..."