heliumnoun [ U ]
uk/ˈhiː.li.əm/us/ˈhiː.li.əm/symbol Hea chemical element that is a gas lighter than air, that will not burn and is used in balloons, airships, and some types of lights
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Chemical elements
- alkali metal
- antimony
- calcium
- carbonic
- carbonic acid
- cesium
- cl
- graphene
- lithium
- nickel
- plutonium
- quicksilver
- selenium
- sodium
- strontium
- sulphur
- transition metal
- urea
- vanadium
- zinc
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Examples from literature
- But soon, balloonists started to use lighter-than-air gases like helium and hydrogen inside the balloon to fly higher.
- Hot air balloons are more common, but many of the high altitude balloons use helium gas.
- The gas used in the balloon is helium, which is not explosive like hydrogen, and therefore not as dangerous.