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Definition metastable in British English

metastable adjective

adjective
1

in physics and chemistry, relating to a state of a chemical or physical system that is unstable but relatively long-lived provided it is not subjected to major disturbances

Example

Intriguingly, the measured values of the Higgs boson mass and top quark mass put the universe very close to the boundary between metastable and completely stable.

Definition metastable in British English