noun
a circular particle accelerator for positively charged ions (usually protons, deuterons, and alpha particles), normally used to initiate nuclear transformations upon collision with a suitable target: through the combined action of a constant magnetic field with an oscillating electrostatic field across two -shaped, hollow electrodes, it causes a particle to move in an increasingly large spiral path inside the electrodes with increasing kinetic energy and velocity
Origin:
cyclo- + -tron