moly cow

Meaning

Noun

• A device used to extract from a source of decaying molybdenum-99 the metastable isotope ^99mTc of technetium, which is the most commonly used medical radioisotope.

Related

Similar words

• technetium-99m generator
• technetium cow

Origin

• From moly (informal term for molybdenum) + cow. The word cow alludes to the fact that the device “milks” technetium-99m from molybdenum-99: see quotations.