What is "vector boson"

n. (context physics English) Any of a family of gauge bosons having a spin quantum number of one

In particle physics, a vector boson is a boson with the spin equal to 1. The vector bosons regarded as elementary particles in the Standard Model are the gauge bosons, which are the force carriers of fundamental interactions: the photon of electromagnetism, the W and Z bosons of the weak interaction, and the gluons of the strong interaction. Some composite particles are vector bosons, for instance any vector meson ( quark and antiquark). During the 1970s and 1980s, intermediate vector bosons—vector bosons of "intermediate" mass—drew much attention in particle physics.