Comet
['kɒmɪt] or ['kɑmət]
Definition
(noun.) (astronomy) a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit.
Checker: Mattie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A member of the solar system which usually moves in an elongated orbit, approaching very near to the sun in its perihelion, and receding to a very great distance from it at its aphelion. A comet commonly consists of three parts: the nucleus, the envelope, or coma, and the tail; but one or more of these parts is frequently wanting. See Illustration in Appendix.
Checker: Patrice
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Blazing star.
Checker: Patrice
Definition
n. a heavenly body with an eccentric orbit having a definite point or nucleus a nebulous light surrounding the nucleus and a luminous tail preceding or following the nucleus.—adjs. Com′etary Comet′ic.—ns. Com′et-find′er a telescope of low power used to search for comets; Cometog′raphy; Cometol′ogy.
Edited by Annabel
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of this heavenly awe-inspiring object sailing through the skies, you will have trials of an unexpected nature to beset you, but by bravely combating these foes you will rise above the mediocre in life to heights of fame. For a young person, this dream portends bereavement and sorrow.
Edited by Dinah
Examples
- Ere long, some noted singers and musicians dawned upon the platform: as these stars rose, the comet-like professor set. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- To aid the effect, a reflector was employed, and when the rays were directed to the clouds, they had the appearance of a huge comet, the reflector being the nucleus. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Bell called his boat the Comet, in commemoration of the remarkable eccentric luminary which was at that time frightening Europe from its propriety. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Gibbon couples the Justinian epidemic with the great comet of 531, and with the very frequent and serious earthquakes of that reign. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Alexandros began to move it about, and like the flaming sword of St Michael, or the tail of a comet, it swept in a tremendous arc across the dark sky. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- The average individual does not bother himself much about the calculation of eclipses, or the laws which govern the movements of an erratic comet. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Such a puff is what we call a comet. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Things will grow and ripen as if it were a comet year, said Will. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Comets, meteors, an d eclipses were considered as omens portending pestilence, national disaster, or the fate of kings. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- They have observed ninety-three different comets, and settled their periods with great exactness. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- He also invented a barometer, and as an astronomer suggested that the return of comets might be calculated. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- At the same time the book contains interesting conjectures in reference to the relati on of earthquakes and volcanoes, and to the fact that comets travel in fixed orbits. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The comets are to be regarded as parts of the system, akin to the planets, but more remote from the control of the centripetal forc e of the sun. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
Inputed by Alan