(nuclear physics) An accidental uncontrolled self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction.

plural of criticality accident

Alternative form of noncritical.

Alternative form of gender-critical. / Alternative form of gender-critical: Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see gender, critical.

(thermodynamics) The temperature and pressure at which the vapour density of the gas and liquid phases of a fluid are equal, at which point there is no difference between gas and liquid.

(physics) The amount of fissile material needed to support a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. / (figuratively) The tipping point.

(physics) the milky turbidity observed in a fluid as it is slowly cooled to just above its critical point, at which point two clear phases (gas and liquid) form

(mathematics) Any function, in the calculus of variations, that satisfies the Euler equations

(physics, of a linear dynamic system) Possessing a damping ratio of exactly 1.

A movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle of the 20th century, emphasizing close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work functions as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic object.