Definition of actinides:
(n) :
(chemistry) Any of the 15 radioactive elements of the periodic table from actinium to lawrencium that are positioned under the lanthanides, to which they have similar chemistry.
(n) :
(chemistry) Any of the 14 elements from actinium to nobelium (lawrencium is excluded by some authors as it is a d-block rather than an f-block element).
(n) :
(chemistry) (dated) Any of the 14 elements from thorium to lawrencium (actinium having been mistakenly excluded because it was thought to be a d-block element in the past).