HyperDic: mass_defect

English > 1 sense of the expression *mass defect*:
NOUN	phenomenon	mass defect, mass deficiency	the amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles

English > *mass defect*: 1 sense > noun 1, phenomenon
Meaning	The amount by which the mass of an atomic nucleus is less than the sum of the masses of its constituent particles.
Synonym	mass deficiency
Broader	mass	The property of a body that causes it to have weight in a gravitational field