STRONG FORCE

[strong force] n (1969): a fundamental physical force that acts on hadrons and is responsible for the binding together of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus and for processes of particle creation in high-energy collisions and that is the strongest known fundamental physical force but acts only over distances comparable to those between nucleons in an atomic nucleus--called also strong interaction, strong nuclear force--compare electromagnetism 2a, gravity 3a(2), weak force