See Also: Radium(medicine)
radium(dictionary)
radium(encyclopedia)
radium(dictionary)
radium beam therapy(medicine)

radium (iou)



radium noun. L19.
[formed as RADIUS + -IUM.]
I.
A radioactive metallic chemical element, atomic no. 88, which is one of the alkaline earth metals and occurs in pitchblende and other uranium ores. (Symbol Ra.) L19.
(With following cap. letter.) Designating substances (mostly radioactive) now recognized as isotopes of other elements, which are formed successively in the radioactive series of radium. E20.
II.
A smooth plain fabric with the sheen of silk. E20.
Comb.: radium beam a beam of gamma radiation from a radium source, used in radiotherapy; radium bomb a container holding a large quantity of radium, used in radiotherapy as a source of a gamma ray beam; radium burn: caused by overexposure to radiation from radium; radium dial a watch or clock dial with the numbers and hands marked with radium to make them luminescent; radium needle: containing radium which can be inserted into tissue for radiotherapy; radium therapy radiotherapy using radiation from radium.
radiumize verb trans. subject to the action of radium E20.