neon

/ˌniˈɑn/

/ˈniɒn/

Other forms: neons

Neon is a gas that’s often used to light up signs. Neon signs are made with tubes filled with the glowing gas. Neon also describes really bright colors that appear to glow, like a punk rocker’s neon orange Mohawk.

The element neon was discovered in 1898 when British chemists chilled air until it became liquid, and then separated the gases it gave off when it was heated. Neon can glow bright red, so it's often used in fluorescent signs and lights. In Greek, neon is a form of the word "new." For neon signs that aren’t so new, there’s the Neon Museum in Las Vegas where the glowing giants go to die.

Definitions of neon

1. noun

   a colorless odorless gaseous element that give a red glow in a vacuum tube; one of the six inert gasses; occurs in the air in small amounts
   synonyms: Ne, atomic number 10

   type of:

   chemical element, element

   any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter

   argonon, inert gas, noble gas

   any of the chemically inert gaseous elements of the helium group in the periodic table