nature abhors a vacuum

English

Phrase

nature abhors a vacuum

  2. (sciences, technology, idiomatic) Generating and maintaining a near-vacuum is challenging (requiring technical rigor) because ambient pressure tends to push matter forcefully into the evacuated chamber; and generating a true vacuum (devoid of any matter at all) is extremely challenging.
    The development of practical electric light bulbs was challenging not least because nature abhors a vacuum: removing all air from the bulbs was not as easy as it at first seemed.
  4. (originally prescientifically, idiomatic) Generating a vacuum is impossible (a vacuum can never exist) owing to the inherent nature of the universe.
    The ancients believed that nature abhors a vacuum.
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