free electron

English

Noun

free electron (plural free electrons)

  1. (physics, chemistry) An electron not attached to an atom.
  2. (politics, figuratively) A person who acts independently of the organization to which he or she belongs.
    • 2012 October 22, Lolita Buckner-Inniss, “Christiane Taubira”, in Black Past‎:
      She has been called a “free electron” in politics because of her sometimes independent stances apart from party politics.
    • 2020 June 23, John Bolton, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 71:
      Haley was a free electron, which she had obviously gotten used to, communicating directly with Trump.

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