Radium is a radioactive element which is used in the treatment of cancer.
radium in British English
(ˈreɪdɪəm)
noun
a.
a highly radioactive luminescent white element of the alkaline earth group of metals. It occurs in pitchblende, carnotite, and other uranium ores, and is used in radiotherapy and in luminous paints. Symbol: Ra; atomic no: 88; half-life of most stable isotope, 226Ra: 1620 years; valency: 2; relative density: 5; melting pt: 700°C; boiling pt: 1140°C
b.
(as modifier)
radium needle
Word origin
C20: from Latin radius ray
radium in American English
(ˈreɪdiəm)
noun
a radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the alkaline-earth metals, found in very small amounts in pitchblendeand other minerals containing uranium: it undergoes spontaneous atomic disintegration through several stages, emitting alpha, beta, and gamma rays and finally forming an isotope of lead: radium is used in neutron sources and in the treatment of cancer and other diseases: symbol, Ra; at. no., 88
Word origin
ModL < L radius, ray (see radius) + -ium: so named (1898) by P. & M. Curie & G. Bémont, because it emits rays
Examples of 'radium' in a sentence
radium
She asked about having just the lump removed, and radium therapy.
Gaskin, Catherine THE AMBASSADOR'S WOMEN (2001)
And if the... the operation and radium treatment didn't work, she would be dying in a very public position.
Gaskin, Catherine THE AMBASSADOR'S WOMEN (2001)
He'll be having radium therapy for some time, and feels he isn't up to even the routine work.
Gaskin, Catherine THE AMBASSADOR'S WOMEN (2001)
") The oldest part of the house, made of wood, was kept freshly painted, oyster-whiteshingles that glowed like radium in early dusk.