English Dictionary: Shooting Star | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for Shooting Star | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
{Shooting iron}, a firearm. [Slang, U.S.] {Shooting star}. (a) (Astron.) A starlike, luminous meteor, that, appearing suddenly, darts quickly across some portion of the sky, and then as suddenly disappears, leaving sometimes, for a few seconds, a luminous train, -- called also {falling star}. Note: Shooting stars are small cosmical bodies which encounter the earth in its annual revolution, and which become visible by coming with planetary velocity into the upper regions of the atmosphere. At certain periods, as on the 13th of November and 10th of August, they appear for a few hours in great numbers, apparently diverging from some point in the heavens, such displays being known as meteoric showers, or star showers. These bodies, before encountering the earth, were moving in orbits closely allied to the orbits of comets. See {Leonids}, {Perseids}. (b) (Bot.) The American cowslip ({Dodecatheon Meadia}). See under {Cowslip}. {Shooting stick} (Print.), a tapering piece of wood or iron, used by printers to drive up the quoins in the chase. --Hansard. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
{Blazing star}, {Double star}, {Multiple star}, {Shooting star}, etc. See under {Blazing}, {Double}, etc. {Nebulous star} (Astron.), a small well-defined circular nebula, having a bright nucleus at its center like a star. {Star anise} (Bot.), any plant of the genus Illicium; -- so called from its star-shaped capsules. {Star apple} (Bot.), a tropical American tree ({Chrysophyllum Cainito}), having a milky juice and oblong leaves with a silky-golden pubescence beneath. It bears an applelike fruit, the carpels of which present a starlike figure when cut across. The name is extended to the whole genus of about sixty species, and the natural order ({Sapotace[91]}) to which it belongs is called the Star-apple family. {Star conner}, one who cons, or studies, the stars; an astronomer or an astrologer. --Gascoigne. {Star coral} (Zo[94]l.), any one of numerous species of stony corals belonging to {Astr[91]a}, {Orbicella}, and allied genera, in which the calicles are round or polygonal and contain conspicuous radiating septa. {Star cucumber}. (Bot.) See under {Cucumber}. {Star flower}. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus {Ornithogalum}; star-of-Bethlehem. (b) See {Starwort} (b) . (c) An American plant of the genus {Trientalis} ({Trientalis Americana}). --Gray. {Star fort} (Fort.), a fort surrounded on the exterior with projecting angles; -- whence the name. {Star gauge} (Ordnance), a long rod, with adjustable points projecting radially at its end, for measuring the size of different parts of the bore of a gun. {Star grass}. (Bot.) (a) A small grasslike plant ({Hypoxis erecta}) having star-shaped yellow flowers. (b) The colicroot. See {Colicroot}. {Star hyacinth} (Bot.), a bulbous plant of the genus {Scilla} ({S. autumnalis}); -- called also {star-headed hyacinth}. {Star jelly} (Bot.), any one of several gelatinous plants ({Nostoc commune}, {N. edule}, etc.). See {Nostoc}. {Star lizard}. (Zo[94]l.) Same as {Stellion}. {Star-of-Bethlehem} (Bot.), a bulbous liliaceous plant ({Ornithogalum umbellatum}) having a small white starlike flower. {Star-of-the-earth} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Plantago} ({P. coronopus}), growing upon the seashore. {Star polygon} (Geom.), a polygon whose sides cut each other so as to form a star-shaped figure. {Stars and Stripes}, a popular name for the flag of the United States, which consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternately red and white, and a union having, in a blue field, white stars to represent the several States, one for each. With the old flag, the true American flag, the Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the chamber in which we sit. --D. Webster. {Star showers}. See {Shooting star}, under {Shooting}. {Star thistle} (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea solstitialis}) having the involucre armed with radiating spines. {Star wheel} (Mach.), a star-shaped disk, used as a kind of ratchet wheel, in repeating watches and the feed motions of some machines. {Star worm} (Zo[94]l.), a gephyrean. {Temporary star} (Astron.), a star which appears suddenly, shines for a period, and then nearly or quite disappears. These stars are supposed by some astronometers to be variable stars of long and undetermined periods. {Variable star} (Astron.), a star whose brilliancy varies periodically, generally with regularity, but sometimes irregularly; -- called {periodical star} when its changes occur at fixed periods. {Water star grass} (Bot.), an aquatic plant ({Schollera graminea}) with small yellow starlike blossoms. |