*physics*

n. 1. the concerned with the physical and chemical properties of celestial bodies. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A branch of geology that uses physical principles to study the properties of the earth.
Syn. -- geophysical science. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the branch of particle physics which studies collisions of particles accelerated to such high energy that new fundamental particles are generated in the process. The creation of new particles of very high energy is required to permit the study of the most fundamental relations between forms of matter, so as to understand the fundamental nature of matter. The high energies also reproduce the high-temperature conditions at the earliest phase of the big bang, allowing generation of some data relevant to understanding the nature and evolution of the universe. [ PJC ]

n. [ Gr. &unr_; &unr_; &unr_; after those things which relate to external nature, after physics, fr. &unr_; beyond, after + &unr_; relating to external nature, natural, physical, fr. &unr_; nature: cf. F. métaphysique. See Physics. The term was first used by the followers of Aristotle as a name for that part of his writings which came after, or followed, the part which treated of physics. ] 1. The science of real as distinguished from phenomenal being; ontology; also, the science of being, with reference to its abstract and universal conditions, as distinguished from the science of determined or concrete being; the science of the conceptions and relations which are necessarily implied as true of every kind of being; philosophy in general; first principles, or the science of first principles. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Metaphysics is distinguished as general and special. General metaphysics is the science of all being as being. Special metaphysics is the science of one kind of being; as, the metaphysics of chemistry, of morals, or of politics. According to Kant, a systematic exposition of those notions and truths, the knowledge of which is altogether independent of experience, would constitute the science of metaphysics. [ 1913 Webster ]

Commonly, in the schools, called metaphysics, as being part of the philosophy of Aristotle, which hath that for title; but it is in another sense: for there it signifieth as much as “books written or placed after his natural philosophy.” But the schools take them for “books of supernatural philosophy;” for the word metaphysic will bear both these senses. Hobbes. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now the science conversant about all such inferences of unknown being from its known manifestations, is called ontology, or metaphysics proper. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Metaphysics are [ is ] the science which determines what can and what can not be known of being, and the laws of being, a priori. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: The scientific knowledge of mental phenomena; mental philosophy; psychology. [ 1913 Webster ]

Metaphysics, in whatever latitude the term be taken, is a science or complement of sciences exclusively occupied with mind. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whether, after all,
A larger metaphysics might not help
Our physics. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. That branch of physics which studies the structure of and phenomena observed in atomic nuclei. [ PJC ]

n. That branch of physics which investigates the nature of matter, and in particular the properties and behavior of the elementary particles (fundamental particles), of which matter is composed. Included in this field is the more specialized branch of high-energy physics. [ PJC ]

n. [ See Physic. ] The science of nature, or of natural objects; that branch of science which treats of the laws and properties of matter, and the forces acting upon it; especially, that department of natural science which treats of the causes (as gravitation, heat, light, magnetism, electricity, etc.) that modify the general properties of bodies; natural philosophy. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Chemistry, though a branch of general physics, is commonly treated as a science by itself, and the application of physical principles which it involves constitute a branch called chemical physics, which treats more especially of those physical properties of matter which are used by chemists in defining and distinguishing substances. [ 1913 Webster ]