starn.1
/stɑː/, U.S. /stɑr/ I. A celestial object, and related figurative and extended uses.
1.
a. Any of the many celestial objects appearing as luminous points in the night sky; esp. any of those which do not noticeably change relative position, as distinct from planets, comets, and meteors (cf. fixed star n. at fixed adj. 6c). In modern astronomical use: any of the class of luminous, roughly spherical celestial objects (including the sun) which shine by virtue of energy produced by internal nuclear reactions.Some six thousand stars are visible to the naked eye, but the Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to contain at least 200 billion stars, while the observable universe is estimated to contain billions of other galaxies. Stars consist primarily of a plasma of hydrogen and helium, and are classified according to their brightness, spectral type, and stage of evolution.double star, dwarf star, evening star, falling star, morning star, neutron star, new star, Seven Stars, shooting star, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [noun]
stareOE
starnc1175
lamp1423
aster1603
spangle1605
fires of heaven1609
asterism1657
sunleta1854
eOE Metres of Boethius (2009) xxix. 12 Ealle stiorran sigað æfter sunnan samod mid rodere under eorðan grund.
OE Ælfric De Temporibus Anni (Cambr. Gg.3.28) (2009) i. 78 Ða steorran..sind swiðe brade, ac for ðam micclum fæce þe us betweonan is hi sind geðuhte urum gesihðum swiðe gehwæde.
a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 279 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 228 Nafre sunne þar ne sineð ne mone ne storre.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 8917 Þe steorre is ihate a Latin comete.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 164 And þus him þingþ al þe worle lite, ase a sterre hit þincþ to ous.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 270 His eyen twynkled in his heed aryght As doon the sterres in the frosty nyght.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 242 The vij. planetis..and..the fix sterris.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection ii. sig. Hv A certayn sterre apperyng in the heuen, aboue the course of nature.
1588 T. Kyd tr. T. Tasso Housholders Philos. f. 15 Euen as the Moone and the Starres receiue light by participation with the Sunne.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 227 The Starres of Andromeda..are about that time ascendent. View more context for this quotation
1671 F. Vernon Let. 23 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1971) VIII. 383 Sigre Cassini..told mee that as hee was intent upon observing the Position of the ansulae of Saturne..hee perceived a starre smaller then Saturne's Satelles.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Crosier, in Astronomy, four Stars, in form of a Cross; by help whereof, those who sail in the Southern Hemisphere find the Antarctick Pole.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 158 And tell us whence the stars; why some are fix'd, And planetary some.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 447/1 We distinguish the stars from the planets in much the same way as our ancestors did before us.
1892 Ld. Tennyson Death Œnone 12 And the dream Wail'd in her, when she woke beneath the stars.
1926 A. S. Eddington Internal Constit. Stars xi. 301 We do not argue with the critic who urges that the stars are not hot enough for this process [sc. formation of helium]; we tell him to go and find a hotter place.
1982 P. Carter Children of Bk. xi. 99 As the first stars twinkled, Lorraine led the cavalry north.
1999 S. Rushdie Ground beneath her Feet (2000) xv. 465 Events on an unimaginable scale: the death of stars, the birth of galaxies, soup-stirrings near the dawn of Time.
2004 Independent 28 July 9/4 The evening sky is dominated by the great Summer Triangle of bright stars.
b. In similes and proverbial phrases, esp. with reference to the brightness, multitude, height, or remoteness of the stars.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) iv. 34 Þinne ofspring ic gemenigfylde swa swa steorran on heofenan.
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) lxi. 104 Ðeos wyrt [sc. asterion] scineð on nihte swilce steorra [L. tamquam stella] on heofone.
a1200 (?OE) MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 153 No man hit ne mihte tellen, nan more þene men mugen tellen þe strerres [read sterres] on heuene.
c1350 Ayenbite (1866) App. 267 (MED) Men, apostles, and techeres þet holy cherche..habbeþ y-taȝt ssyneþ ase sterren.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxii. 17 I schall multiply þi seed, as sterres of heuen.
?a1450 Metrical Life Christ (1977) 95 (MED) Angels were in þe lifte Þicker þen sterres in þe nyght.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. xxix They extolled and praysed hym far aboue the starres.
1581 A. Hall tr. Homer 10 Bks. Iliades ii. 18 Casting how he Achilles fame vnto the starres might raise.
a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. iv. viii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Sss4/2 I am above your hate, as far above it,..As the pure Stars are from the muddy meators.
1657 T. Speed Guilty-covered Clergy-man Unvailed 76 Man abiding in the truth, shineth as a Star in the Firmament.
1702 N. Rowe Tamerlane i. ii. 678 Thou..hast dar'd To lift thy wretched self above the Stars And mate with Power Almighty.
1799 W. Wordsworth She Dwelt 7 Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky.
1802 W. Wordsworth Sonnet to Liberty i. xiv. 9 Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart.
1886 W. D. Howells Indian Summer xvii. 295 She now looked as fresh and lambent as a star.
1921 Financial World 14 Feb. 292/2 The whole political thought of Europe is as remote as the stars from economic vision.
1985 F. Turner J. Muir iii. 214 Here before him was one who labored with his hands yet had his head in the stars.
2014 Frederick (Maryland) News-Post 4 May b3/2 Pat graduated from Frederick High School where she shone like a star as the head majorette.
c. In plural. With the. With reference to various belief systems, and to systems of cosmology other than that of modern science: the stars (sense 1a) collectively, or the region in which they are considered to lie; the celestial sphere, the heavens, esp. when considered as the abode of the gods or the souls of the dead. Also in singular: a star considered as the abode of the soul of a dead person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > [noun]
candle937
lightOE
starsc1225
ballc1300
bodya1398
celestinec1430
heavenly bodya1475
luminair1477
luminary1489
streamer1513
host or hosts of heaven1535
globe1555
orb1565
sphere1598
planet1640
superstar1910
c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Royal) (1981) 330 Mit tet ilke steh upto þe steorren.
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 187 Ne wene na mon to stihen wið este to þe steorren.
c1300 St. Kenelm (Laud) l. 116 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 348 (MED) Him þouȝte þat þare stod a treo..Þat a-non to þe steorrene it tilde.
c1480 (a1400) St. Eugenia 252 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) II. 131 Þai..sad þat goddis had hir tane & ymang þe sterris with hir gane.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 274 Trina celi, The thre ierarchyes of heuen, the sonne, the starres, the mone.
1580 T. Churchyard Light Bondell Disc.: Churchyards Charge f. 13v The Gods regardyng from the starres, what strife by Beautie rose, Bad Venus call her daughter home.
1615 R. A. Valiant Welshman i. iii. sig. B3 Eternall peace,..Inspheare thy soule, and mount it to the stars.
1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 78 It hath well pleased the Eternall, to place in the Stars, a flatuous, violent, motive force.
1708 W. King tr. Ovid Art of Love x. 115 At first the Stars, the Air, the Earth and Deep Lay all confus'd in One unorder'd Heap.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. xxv. 108 Thou art gone;—thy genius fled up to the stars, whence it came.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge ix. 284 Perhaps she wondered what star was destined for her habitation when she had run her little course below.
1862 Dublin Univ. Mag. Apr. 411/2 The Poles..believe that..the spirits dwelling in the stars, influence the destinies of mankind.
1916 J. A. Altsheler Hunters of Hills (1920) xiii. 297 He had seen..the face of the wise chief who had gone to his star more than four hundred years ago.
1961 S. Lloyd Art Anc. Near East i. 15 The realm of spiritual survival, dimly located ‘among the stars’ in the Osiride conception.
2000 M. Haynes (title) Grandma's gone to live in the stars.
d. With reference to the pagan belief (esp. in classical, polytheistic religions) that the souls of favoured or notable people are transformed after death into stars.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [noun] > as soul of dead
starc1450
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > [noun] > spirit of deceased person > appearing as star
starc1450
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 599 For Ioues ys not ther aboute..To make of the as yet a sterre.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 84 Neyther was Helen made a Starre bicause shee came of that Egge with Castor.
1598 T. Rogers Celestiall Elegies sig. C4 She to a starre is metamorphosed And with the golden Twinns in heauen enstald.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. i. 55 A farre more glorious Starre thy Soule will make, Then Iulius Cæsar. View more context for this quotation
1690 J. Dryden Amphitryon v. 54 Is my fellow Phædra to be exalted into the Heav'ns, and made a Star?
1730 S. Shuckford Sacred & Profane Hist. World Connected II. viii. 315 The Souls of such Heroes were translated into some Star.
1792 R. Bage Man as he Is IV. xciii. 72 The apotheosis of the lovely queen into a star is an instance of the sublime and beautiful.
1844 W. K. Kelly Syria & Holy Land xii. 360 There is something sweet and consoling to the heart in this notion of final transformation into a star.
1873 A. Louage Hist. Greek & Rom. Classical Lit. ii. ii. i. 152 The translation of the soul of Julius Cæsar to heaven, and his metamorphosis into a star.
1925 W. R. Halliday Pagan Background Early Christianity vii. 225 It became a generally accepted belief that the soul at death sought its home in the stars, and that, at least, the good and great became stars.
2003 R. M. Schoch Voy. Pyramid Builders 111 Egyptian mythology..sent the departed pharaoh into the sky, where he was transformed into a star.
2. In wider use: any celestial object visible in the sky in the day or night, including the sun, moon, and planets; sometimes also (esp. in this star) the earth. diurnal star, star of day, †star of noon (obsolete): the sun.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Homily: De Falsis Diis (Corpus Cambr. 178) in J. C. Pope Homilies of Ælfric (1968) II. 687 Hi..forgeafon him [sc. the planetary deities] steorran, swilce hi ahton heora geweald: þa syfan tunglan, sunnan and monan, and þa oðre fif.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 141 Þe sterre þet hatte saturne.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 4445 (MED) O cruel Mars..þou sterre infortunat..O hatful sterre..In strif and murmur most is þi desyre.
1563 L. Humphrey Nobles or of Nobilitye sig. C.iiv Venus sterre in skye dymmes all the rest.
1585 R. Greene Planetomachia sig. B3 Most skilfull interpretors of celestiall misteries..call the starre of Saturne intemperate, infortunate, and ill affected.
1601 R. Dolman tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. III. 322 There are some [trees], which naturally follow the Sun,..hauing a sympathy and secret inclination to this star.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 1069 Ere this diurnal Starr Leave cold the Night. View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Sergeant Solid Philos. 118 Providence has left us no Means to know what is done in the Moon, or other Stars.
1745 E. Young Consolation 84 Worlds conceal'd by Day Behind the proud, and envious, Star of Noon!
1808 T. B. Macaulay in G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay (1876) I. i. 32 The star of day had reached the West.
1870 R. S. Hawker Let. 5 July in Life & Lett. (1905) 588 No, my fate is fixed. Here on this Star nothing of any palm: it is reserved for another Sphere, a far-away world.
1903 J. Hawthorne Hawthorne & His Circle xiv. 276 The last rays of the star of day before it sinks below the horizon forever.
1960 Monroe (Louisiana) News-Star 4 Mar. a3/4 ‘We have only one star beneath our feet,’ Khrushchev said. ‘Coexistence is the only way to live on this star.’
2014 P. D. Omodeo Copernicus in Cultural Deb. Renaissance vi. 248 This found justification, in Kepler, in the conviction that the diurnal star was not only the geometrical center of the cosmos, but that it also exerted a force on the planets.
3.
a. Astrology.
(a) A planet, star (sense 1a), or (zodiacal) constellation considered as influencing events and human affairs, the motion or position of which may be interpreted for giving advice or predicting the future. Usually in plural, now chiefly in the stars. Cf. to be born under a —— star at born adj. Phrases 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > heavenly body > as influence on mankind > [noun]
starOE
constellationc1320
sideration1590
the mind > mental capacity > disposition or character > [noun] > disposition as determined by stars
starOE
influence14..
star1603
constellationa1628
the world > the universe > heavenly body > as influence on mankind > [noun] > type of
starOE
birth star1550
ruler?1558
dominator1594
fortunate1615
prorogator1647
the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > that which is ordained by fate > personal destiny or one's lot > viewed as determined by the stars
starOE
star1603
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 132 Se cræft sceolde wissian gewisslice be steorrum hwæt gehwilcum menn gelumpe on his lifes endebyrdnysse.
OE Poenitentiale Pseudo-Egberti (Laud) ii. xxiii. 30 Swa hæðene men doð, þæt is þæt hi gelyfen on sunnan & on monan & on steorrena ryne & secen tida hwatunga hira þing to beginnenne.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1321 Hwat canstu, wrecche þing, of storre?
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) l. 3553 (MED) In þe sterres he was þe best deuine.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. l. 654 If men weren goode and wise..Thei scholden noght the sterres drede.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) iv. 675 As it wes vounderfull, perfay, How ony man throu steris may Knaw the thingis that ar to cum.
1516 St. Bridget (Pynson) in J. H. Blunt Mirror our Lady (1873) p. xlix The sykenes of this childe is nat of the sterres.
1542 A. Borde Compend. Regyment Helth iii. sig. B.iv Many thynges doth infect..the ayre, as the influence of sondry sterres.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. i. 187 You were borne vnder a charitable starre . View more context for this quotation
1686 tr. J. Chardin Trav. Persia 19 What unlucky Star brought him to Constantinople.
1698 W. King Journey to London 25 There are people that can pick Pockets, and afterwards by Consulting the Stars, tell you who it was that did it.
1728 J. Thomson Spring 55 But happy They..Whom gentler Stars unite.
1786 S. Henley tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 21 He flattered himself that he might there read in the stars, which he went to consult, something more congruous to his wishes.
1839 T. Wright Ess. Lit. & Learning under Anglo-Saxons 66 When..the philosopher awoke, he discovered, by his knowledge of the stars, which way his scholar had fled.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita I. x. 308 Another segment of my learning..might have had better consequence than ever came of it, had the stars so pleased.
1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow ii. 13 Priscilla's days were spent in casting the horoscopes of horses, and she invested her money scientifically, as the stars dictated.
1969 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 21 Jan. 4/2 But, come Sunday I discovered the stars had foretold right.
2011 I. Cudalb My Daughter Amer. 59 It was meant to be, aunt. It was written in the stars.
(b) With possessive: the planet, star, or constellation which, by its position at the moment of a person's birth, is considered to determine his or her destiny or temperament. Usually in plural. Cf. to thank (also bless, curse) one's stars at Phrases 2.
ΚΠ
1584 G. Peele Araygnem. Paris iii. v. sig. Dj Sithe this my stars to me allot.
1591 R. Wilmot Tancred & Gismund i. iii. sig. B His doome of death was dated by his starres.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. ii. 141 The fault (deere Brutus) is not in our Starres, But in our Selues, that we are vnderlings. View more context for this quotation
1699 S. Garth Dispensary v. 57 You owe..to your Stars your penury of Sense.
1726 J. Swift Gulliver I. ii. i. 13 My good Star would have it, that he appeared pleased with my Voice.
1778 Epist. W—m, E—l of M—f—d 21 Your natal stars unhappily agree: Thou art the Pollux, and the Castor he.
1832 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 257 Only to think that my stars should let me off so easily!
1860 A. M. Goodrich Leonore & Little Countess xvii. 190 He lay railing at the malignant influence of his stars.
1939 J. Trachtenberg Jewish Magic & Superstition xv. 236 His star must have determined at his birth that this should be his forte.
1962 P. Longworth tr. M. Lermontov Hero of our Time 156 What if he has the luck, what if my stars betray me at last?
2006 Company Nov. 99/2 Late-twenties' angst is all down to your stars.
b. In extended use. With possessive: a person's fortune, rank, destiny, or temperament, considered as determined by the stars.In later use chiefly as part of an extended metaphor with ascend, wane, etc. Cf. a person's star is rising (also on the rise) at Phrases 6. to be through with one's star: to have come to the end of one's good fortune or popularity (rare).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > disposition or character > [noun] > disposition as determined by stars
starOE
influence14..
star1603
constellationa1628
the mind > will > necessity > fate or destiny as determining events > [noun] > that which is ordained by fate > personal destiny or one's lot > viewed as determined by the stars
starOE
star1603
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet ii. ii. 142 Lord Hamlet is a Prince out of your starre.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) ii. v. 139 In my stars I am aboue thee, but be not affraid of greatnesse. View more context for this quotation
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) ii. §13 I was not borne unto riches, neither is it I thinke my Starre to be wealthy. View more context for this quotation
1698 T. Barker Nassau 1 Whose [sc. Nassau's] boundless Force so wholly rules his Foes, That we conclude their Stars in his Dispose.
1794 W. Tench Let. 15 Dec. (1796) iv. 43 His star set with that of his master, Robespierre.
1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. 477 Suleiman recognized the ascendancy of the star of his rival.
1895 W. J. J. Spry Life on Bosphorus vi. 160 Her star was on the wane; she was no longer required.
1922 J. A. Dunn Man Trap xiv As for this boob, Royce, he's through with his star as far as this town is concerned.
1947 H. V. Livermore Hist. Portugal 163 Henry's star began to ascend, and he was acclaimed king of Castile in the spring of 1366.
2004 A. McCall Smith Sunday Philos. Club xxi. 231 It was not in her interests as the future Mrs Paul Hogg to have hitched her star to a has-been.
c. In plural. With possessive adjective: the predictions given for a person's star sign in a horoscope in a newspaper, magazine, etc. Also with the: horoscopes of this type.
ΚΠ
1960 Tucson (Arizona) Daily Citizen 29 Oct. 60/1 What do the stars hold for you? Check your stars daily in the Woman's View section of the Citizen.
1973 G. Chapman et al. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1989) II. xxxvii. 197 The stars in the paper.., the zodiacal signs, the horoscopic fates, the astrological portents, the omens, the genethliac prognostications [etc.].
2011 East Anglian Daily Times (Nexis) 6 June According to my stars, things would start to go pear-shaped on Wednesday; something to do with an eclipse.
4. figurative and in figurative contexts.
a. A person or thing likened to a star, esp. one considered as a source of inspiration or enlightenment.In quot. OE also with implication of sense 4b; cf. Star of the Sea n. at Phrases 1a(a) and sea-star n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > Mary > [noun]
ladyOE
queenOE
MaryOE
St MaryOE
starOE
Our LadylOE
lemana1225
maidena1225
maid Marya1225
heaven queenc1225
mothera1275
maiden Maryc1300
Star of the Seac1300
advocatrixc1390
mother-maidc1390
flower, gem, etc., of virginitya1393
the Virgina1393
mediatricea1400
paramoura1400
salver14..
advocatrice?a1430
Mother of God?a1430
way of indulgence?a1430
advocatessc1450
mother-maidenc1450
rose of Jerichoa1456
mediatrixc1475
viergec1475
addresseressa1492
fleur-de-lis?a1513
rosine?a1513
salvatrice?a1513
saviouress1563
mediatressa1602
advocatress1616
Christotokos1625
Deipara1664
V.M.1670
Madonnaa1684
the Virgin Mother1720
Panagia1776
Mater Dolorosa1800
B.V.M.1838
dispensatrixa1864
Theotokos1874
dispensatress1896
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent thing
starOE
dainty1340
daisyc1485
say-piece1535
bravery1583
paragon1585
daint1633
rapper1653
supernaculum1704
dandy1785
roarer1813
sneezer1823
plum1825
trimmer1827
sockdolager1838
rasper1844
dinger1861
job1863
fizzer1866
champagne1880
beauty1882
pie1884
twanger1889
smasher1894
crackerjack1895
Taj Mahal1895
beaut1896
pearler1901
lollapalooza1904
bearcat1909
beaner1911
grande dame1915
Rolls-Royce1916
the nuts1917
pipperoo1939
rubydazzler1941
rumpty1941
rumptydooler1941
snodger1941
sockeroo1942
sweetheart1942
zinger1955
blue-chipper1957
ring-a-ding1959
premier cru1965
sharpie1970
stormer1978
OE Hymns (Julius A.vi) lxvi. 1 in H. Gneuss Hymnar u. Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968) 349 O Stella maris, ave alma mater dei : eala þu steorra sæ hal wes þu halig moder godes.
lOE St. Giles (Corpus Cambr. 303) (1980) 106 Ðus wynsumlice gaderode se ælmihtiga God þas twegen scinende steorran [sc. the two saints] on annesse þæt hi þurhscinen eal þone eard þe hi onwunodon mid heora byrhta leoman.
c1200 Serm. in Eng. & Germanic Stud. (1961) 7 65 (MED) He vas him sulf king and steorre icleped..þe prophete þus queþind, ‘Orietur stella ex iacob, an steorre schal arisen of iacob.’
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 134 Meiðhad is þe steorre þet, beo ha eanes of þe est igan adun iþe west, neauer eft ne ariseð ha.
c1450 Speculum Christiani (Harl. 6580) (1933) 174 Prelates ben sterres of god; God seyez of hem: ȝe be light of the worlde.
?1578 E. Dering Godly Priuate Praiers (new ed.) sig. Gi By the beames of thy holy Spirit, and Starr of thy blessed Word, shining into the middes of our hartes, to driue away all the night and darkenesse of all prophanenesse.
1653 Apol. for Goodwin 5 The light of Nature in his Astronomy, is a Star of the first magnitude.
1697 J. Dryden Ded. Æneis in tr. Virgil Wks. sig. b1v These are the single Stars which are sprinkled through the Æneis: But there are whole Constellations of them in the Fifth Book.
1739 H. Baker & J. Miller tr. Molière School for Wives vi. in Molière Wks. III. i. 139 But, perhaps you've often seen this young Star of Love, adorn'd with so many Perfections. They call her Agnes.
1769 T. Gray Ode at Installation Duke of Grafton 93 The Star of Brunswick smiles serene, And gilds the horrors of the deep.
1833 C. Lamb Barrenness Imaginative Faculty in Last Ess. Elia 182 Quixote—the errant Star of Knighthood, made more tender by eclipse.
1846 Metrop. Mag. 46 3 The star of life, proud and rejoiceful of its youth, delights to shine upon that divine face.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 129 I suppose he was not reckoned among the stars of greater magnitude, but he was very full of light.
1929 Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gaz. 23 Dec. 4/3 Jesus Christ is the star of hope of the world.
2014 J. Douglas Quake iv. 21 She was his star at full dark; she was the air he breathed.
b. spec. A person who or thing which guides or leads someone. Cf. lodestar n. 2, Pole Star n. 2.Often in figurative contexts with reference to navigation at sea by means of a star or stars.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > kind of star > giant > [noun] > supergiant > Pole star
North Stara1387
polea1398
shipman-star1398
pole arcticc1400
tramontanec1400
transmontane starc1400
pommel1503
sail-star?c1510
Pole Star1555
star?1555
Arctic Pole1565
polar star1578
northern star1590
cynosure1596
Polaris1675
?1555 Ld. Morley tr. Petrarch Tryumphes iii. sig. D.iv O wycked starre that my destanye doth leade [It. o stella iniqua]... Day and nyght vpon hyr I do call.
1569 T. Roest tr. J. van der Noot Theatre Worldlings f. 106v Let him be..the conductyng starre, the compasse & true token, wherat thou saylest.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets cxvi. sig. H Loue..is the star to euery wandring barke. View more context for this quotation
1683 W. Houschone Scotl. pulling down Gates of Rome 12 She plunges her self again in the pit seeing a cure, not following the star of the Scripture.
1737 P. Rolli Sabrina ii. 38 This honest shepherd was the guiding star, Which led me to the harbour of thy arms.
1766 J. Langhorne Fatal Prophecy iv. viii. 103 And she shall prove my kind conducting star, to her own fair abode, the court of Denmark.
1845 R. W. Hamilton Inst. Pop. Educ. vii. 174 Education is the star of their hope and their guidance.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud iv. ii, in Maud & Other Poems 15 I see her pass like a light: But sorrow seize me if ever that light be my leading star!
1924 H. Crane Let. 12 Jan. (1965) 170 You will see why I am not so foolish after all to have followed what seems sometimes only a faint star.
1944 San Antonio (Texas) Light 3 Aug. b4/1 Such an assurance should be the guiding star of our democracy.
2008 M. H. Barratt Galadael 238 All he had ever wanted was a future for his son. This was the star that guided him.
c. Originally Theatre. A very famous or popular actor, singer, or other entertainer; spec. one who has top billing or takes the leading role in a film, play, etc.child star, film star, movie star, pop star, television star, etc.: see the first element. [In quots. 1751 and 1761 showing earlier use in extended metaphors, from which this use developed.]
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performer > [noun] > types of performer > star or principal
star1808
co-star1888
starlet1910
television star1931
principal1936
vedette1963
1751 Bays in Council 5 You may Shine the brightest Theatric Star, that ever enlived'd or charm'd an Audience.
1761 B. Victor Hist. Theatres London & Dublin I. 53 That Luminary soon after became a Star of the first Magnitude, and was called Garrick.]
1808 Monthly Mirror May 405 The star, however, of this company is Mr. Bradbury.
1864 C. Knight Passages Working Life I. v. 218 Our theatre was..commodious; but the manager could not draw audiences without stars.
1919 G. B. Shaw Annajanska in Heartbreak House, Great Catherine, & Playlets of War 265 You still want to be a circus star.
1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 175 The British Forces Network finds new stars of radio from the ranks of the R.A.F.
1976 Oxf. Compan. Film 468/2 Hayley..has been the more prominent in films, scoring a success as a teenage star, notably in Tiger Bay.
2006 Time Out N.Y. 16 Nov. 113/2 A crew member mentions a rumor to the film's star.
d. Sport. An outstanding performer.football star, league star, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > champion or expert
champion1721
championess1728
cock of the school1732
Tartar1785
star1811
holder1830
champ1868
scratch-man1877
scratch-player1888
back-marker1895
title holder1900
titlist1912
three-letter man1929
tiger1929
stickout1933
starlet1976
1811 London Rev. & Lit. Jrnl. Aug. 257/1 He arrived in London..as a pugilistic star of the first magnitude, when only eighteen years of age.
1896 Washington Post 31 Oct. 8/5 The friends of those well-known baseball stars, Messrs. W. L. Lush and James F. Rogers will be pleased at the news of their arrival in Washington.
1928 E. O'Neill Strange Interlude vi. 210 He'll be a crack athlete when he goes to college... I want him to..be a bigger star than Gordon ever was.
1964 G. C. Kunzle Parallel Bars ix. 407 The content of five difficulties and one superior difficulty was more than most international stars had at that time.
2012 N. L. Macht Connie Mack viii. 149 He felt that he would never be a star and baseball had no future for him.
e. A person who ‘shines’ or has a brilliant reputation, esp. one who is illustrious, influential, or accomplished in a particular sphere; the most notable or outstanding person on a specified (social) occasion. Cf. luminary n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person
gemc1275
blooma1300
excellence1447
mirrorc1450
man of mena1470
treasure?1545
paragon1548
shining light1563
Apollo's swan?1592
man of wax1597
rara avis1607
Titan1611
choice spirita1616
excellency1725
inestimable1728
inimitable1751
cock of the walk1781
surpasser1805
shiner1810
swell1816
trump1819
tip-topper1822
star1829
beauty1832
soarer1895
trumph1895
pansy1899
Renaissance man1906
exemplum virtutis1914
museum piece1920
superman1925
flyer1930
pistol1935
all-star1949
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [noun]
kingeOE
master-spiritc1175
douzepersc1330
sire1362
worthya1375
lantern1382
sira1400
greatc1400
noblec1400
persona1425
lightc1425
magnate?a1439
worthyman1439
personagec1460
giant1535
honourablec1540
triedc1540
magnifico1573
ornament1573
signor1583
hero1592
grandee1604
prominent1608
name1611
magnificent1612
choice spirita1616
illustricity1637
luminary1692
lion1715
swell1786
notable1796
top-sawyer1826
star1829
celebrity1831
notability1832
notoriety1841
mighty1853
tycoon1861
reputation1870
public figure1871
star turn1885
headliner1896
front-pager1899
legend1899
celeb1907
big name1909
big-timer1917
Hall of Famer1948
megastar1969
1829 G. Griffin Collegians II. xx. 103 Anne Chute..was, beyond all competition, the star of the evening.
1850 S. G. Osborne Gleanings 228 I have attended many such meetings in England, to meet English Agricultural stars.
1881 C. E. Pascoe Everyday Life in our Public Schools 218 Young ‘stars’ who come up to Harrow with a reputation.
1922 W. H. Ukers All about Coffee x. 80/2 St. James's was a Whig house frequented by members of Parliament, with a fair sprinkling of literary stars.
1987 R. Hall Kisses of Enemy (1990) i. xvii. 104 Sir William, bent on being the star of the occasion, took an instant loathing to the portrait in which he could see a successor to some of his own dear privileges.
2015 Daily Nation (Kenya) (Nexis) & Mar. Cheating in national examinations has taken the shine off former academic stars.
f. An outstanding or excellent thing among members of its class or group; the most impressive example of its kind.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being the best > [noun] > best thing or person
highesteOE
bestOE
greatest?c1225
pridec1330
crestc1400
primrosea1450
outrepass1477
A per sea1500
primrose peerless1523
prisec1540
prime1579
surquidry1607
excellency1611
nonsuchc1613
crown jewel1646
top1665
patriarch1700
pièce de résistance1793
number one1825
business1868
resistance piece1870
star1882
mostest1889
koh-i-noor1892
best-ever1905
flagship1933
the end1950
endsville1957
Big Mac1969
mack daddy1993
1882 Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 16 Mar. 4/4 New York is a star among cities.
1935 R. L. Ditmars Bk. Prehistoric Animals iv. 29 Parasaurolophus, a star among the duck-bills, with a headcrest extended backward and downward like an Indian head-dress.
1973 Art Internat. Mar. 55/1 George Washington Wilson's The Brig and Cliffs, Filey, From the North Landing..was for me the star of the group [of photographs].
1986 J. Cox Spirit of Gardening 86 Now it's late June, and guess who's the star of all the plants on our property?
2015 Manly Daily (Sydney) (Nexis) 22 May 20 The real star, though, is the little bit of cheese baked golden on to the top.
5.
a. In plural. Flashes of light experienced as a subjective sensation, esp. as a result of a blow to the head. Cf. to see stars at Phrases 3, to have stars in one's eyes at Phrases 7.Chiefly in metaphorical expressions referring to the perception of such ‘stars’. Recorded earliest in to see stars at Phrases 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [noun] > specks or sparks before eye
stars1598
synchysis1684
muscae volitantes1715
spot1785
phosphene1852
muscae1856
sparkling synchisis1859
spark1899
floater1902
1598 R. P. tr. M. Martínez Sixth Bk. Myrrour of Knighthood xi. sig. Dd3v Ere hee recouered, the Youth strooke him so on the Uisor, that hee made him see starres [Sp. ver las estrellas] in his darke helme.
1838 N.-Y. Mirror 15 Sept. 93/3 Millions of stars flashed in my eyes as I rose on my knees to discover the damage.
1868 J. C. Hall Med. Evid. in Railway Accidents i. 11 The patient is stunned, and at the moment of the injury has flashes of light or stars before his eyes.
1918 Weekly Irish Times 10 Aug. 4/2 I went dizzy, too, with stars dancing before my eyes.
1961 Tyrone (Pa.) Daily Herald 6 Feb. 5/6 Stars flashed in front of your eyes when it happened.
2011 R. McCalla Princess in Peril vii. 98 Turning his head only brought on another onslaught of stars, and his field of vision blurred.
b. A spark or flash of light.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted in particular manner > [noun] > spark or glittering light
sprankle1398
sparkle1490
spunkc1540
sparka1542
scintil1599
glitter1602
star1609
stricture1628
spinther1641
scintillation1646
fanglea1657
scintilla1661
sparkleta1687
twinkle1689
spangle1821
spink1829
crown jewel1851
twink1870
peep1882
1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica vii. lxxv. 157 Those that but late incompast him about, And with their steele strooke Stars out of his Crest.
1789 Gaz. U.S. 2 May 3/3 The ship Carolina formed a beautiful pyramid of Stars.
1838 Ann. Electr., Magnetism, & Chem. 3 33 The dish is filled with brilliant electric light, emanating from a circle of refulgent stars.
1902 Outlook 19 July 727/1 In every part of this ascending column of black vapor there were bursting huge electric stars of volcanic lightning, which illuminated the whole mountain.
2013 D. Mitchell Flying Blind 77 Tiny sparks—or stars, perhaps?—were bouncing off the brim of his industrial hard hat.
6. † b. A kind of match for lighting cigars. Obsolete.
a. Any of a number of small pieces of combustible material used in a firework (typically a rocket or Roman candle) or flare, esp. when seen burning high in the air (cf. sense 5b). Also: a firework containing a number of these (now rare). Usually in plural. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > parts of > composition producing shower of sparks
star1628
rain1629
shower1753
1628 R. Norton Gunner 34 You may..moisten the same powder, only with liquid Varnish, Linseed oile, or oile of Petre; but the first, is the fairer fire for Starres.
1634 J. Bate Myst. Nature & Art ii. 57 Such [Fire-works] as operate in the ayre, as Rockets,..Stars, [etc.].
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xiii. 89 When you have divers Rockets,..let one be with a Report, another with Starrs, another with Golden Hair or Rain.
1749 Gentleman's Mag. May 234/2 A magnificent firework was play'd off also in Privy Garden and on the Thames, consisting of 200 watermines, 200 air baloons, 200 fire-trees,..and 100 stars.
1766 R. Jones Artific. Fire-works iv. 146 Cases for drove stars are rolled with paste... These stars are seldom put in rockets, they being chiefly intended for air balloons.
1841 Penny Cycl. XX. at Rocket A conical case containing the composition for producing the explosions or stars of light which constitute the signal.
1876 G. E. Voyle & G. de Saint-Clair-Stevenson Mil. Dict. (ed. 3) 139/2 The variety of stars and colours observed in fireworks is formed principally of metallic filings.
1987 Mil. Explosives (U.S. Dept. Army) 2-2/1 The displays with which we have become familiar today, such as Roman candles, rockets, fire crackers, serpentines, whistles, and stars.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > material for igniting > [noun] > match, spill, or taper for lighting > specifically ignited by friction
allumette1601
fire cane1644
paper match1780
Strasbourg match1825
match1830
lucifer match1831
fusee1832
loco-foco1835
oxymuriatic match1835
Congreve1839
Vesta1839
friction-match1847
safety match1850
German Congreve1851
Vesuvian1853
star1862
safety1876
tandstickor1884
post-and-railsa1890
book match1899
Swan Vesta1908
1862 Evening Star 8 May 1/3 (advt.) Apply the side of the star to the pipe or cigar.
1863 F. A. Abel in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 4th Ser. 26 358 Cigar lights (known as Vesuvians, Etnas, Stars, &c.).
1866 C. Tomlinson Cycl. Useful Arts (new ed.) III. 484/1 The modern vesuvians, etnas, stars, &c., are furnished with a handle of wood or glass for holding the ball.
7. Sailing (originally U.S.). Frequently with capital initial. A type of sloop-rigged open keelboat designed to be sailed by two people and used for racing. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > pleasure vessel > [noun] > yacht > types of yacht
steam-yacht1812
skimmer1844
schooner-yacht1876
cruiser1879
keel1883
skimming-dish1884
cutter-yacht1885
bulb-keel1893
keel-boat1893
forty1894
half-rater1894
forty-tonner1895
one-designer1897
raceabout1897
forty-footer1902
sonder1907
star1911
tonnage-cheater1912
scow1929
tabloid1930
Yngling1969
maxi yacht1974
1911 N.Y. Times 31 May 14/2 There were five new one design boats in the star class, owned by well-known racing men.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 25 July 21/1 The sailing events starting Sunday at 10.30 A.M. will be for stars, knockabouts, Hampton Ones [etc.].
1950 R. Macdonald Drowning Pool xx. 184 There were swans and ugly ducklings, arrowy racing sloops and broad-beamed Monterey fishing-boats, cabin cruisers and flatties, Star-boats and dinghies.
1981 P. Johnson Guinness Guide to Sailing I. iv. 39 Designed in 1911 and 1480 lb in weight, the Star is nevertheless the most sensitive and difficult keelboat of all to sail.
2014 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 20 Sept. (Sport section) 17 Freddie..will be sailing with Iain in a Star tomorrow—the class of boat on which Iain and Bart won gold at Beijing 2008.
II. The (conventional) form or image of a star (sense 1a) or something resembling this, and related senses.
8. A spot or patch of white or cream hair on the forehead of a horse or (occasionally) another animal.In quot. 1676 apparently: such a mark artificially created. Cf. star v. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > head > white or dark mark on face
starOE
race?1523
ratch1558
clouda1616
shim1639
range1685
reach1857
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [noun] > colour or markings
spink1550
lear1601
star1697
OE [implied in: Harley Gloss. (1966) 200 Frontialis, steorrede. (at starred adj. 1)].
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 3925 Hys hors..bar a sterre on his for-hed.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. l. 1348 (MED) Thus was the hors in sori plit, Bot for al that a sterre whit Amiddes in the front he hadde.
c1450 Bk. Marchalsi (Harl. 6398) f. 10v An hors þat hath an sterr in þe front.
a1500 in Library (1912) 3 167 (MED) For to knowe an hors..a wyte sterre in the forhed or a wyte feder on the nose or a wyte foote behynde [etc.]..be ye best properteys.
1566 T. Blundeville Bredynge of Horses iv. f. 13v, in Fower Offices Horsemanshippe Of al colors then these be the best, the browne bay, the dapple gray,..the pure black with a whyte starre in his foreheade.
1607 G. Markham Cavelarice i. 22 The pure black, with white starre, white foote, or white rach.
1676 London Gaz. No. 1103/4 A large brown Bay Coach Gelding..with a made star in the forehead.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 99 The Mother Cow..Her ample Forehead with a Star is crown'd. View more context for this quotation
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. vi. 118 In a Hunter or Road Horse, a Star and Snip makes them look more lightsome.
1751 Whitehall Evening-post 26–28 Sept. He..rode on a Bay Gelding, with a Star on his Forehead.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 86 She Kiss'd the white star upon his noble front.
1900 Horse & Hound 7 Apr. 211/2 He is a beautiful bay, nicely dappled, with two white heels and white star on his forehead.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable 162 The body of the horse shot neatly through the star on its forehead.
2015 Sunday Times (Nexis) 8 Feb. (Mag.) 8 He was in a bit of a state; chestnut coat matted with mud and his straggly mane covering the white star on his head.
9. † b. In a list of stockholders: an asterisk prefixed or appended to a person's name when his or her holding exceeds a certain amount. Obsolete.Frequently used with regard to East India Company stock, each vote to which a stockholder was entitled being denoted by an asterisk; one asterisk meant a holding of over £1,000, two asterisks over £3,000, three asterisks over £6,000, and four asterisks over £10,000.
a. As a conventional written or printed symbol: = asterisk n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > [noun] > asterisks, etc.
stara1382
crossc1400
windmill1402
asterisk1612
N.B.1651
asterisma1657
nota bene1738
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Job Prol. l. 8 Origenes alle þe volumes of þe olde testament markede with signe of a ȝerde & with signe of a sterre [L. obelis asteriscisque].
1557 Bible (Whittingham) To Rdr. **iij If the bookes do alter in the sentence then it is noted with this starre *.
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xxxiv. sig. K iij v Making thereon a Starre or suche like marke.
1608 J. Wilson Eng. Martyrol. Advt. to Rdr. To make a Commemoration only..noting the same with the signe of an Asteriske or Starre in the Margent.
1662 in H. Broughton Wks. sig. Pppppp Where the Figures are repeated, one Asterisk (or Star, *), is prefixed.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. v. 117 What Remarks you find there worthy of your riper Observation, you may note them with a marginal Star.
1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 80 Not only whole lines, but sometimes whole pages are left blank, and mark'd with some lines of Stars.
1830 Forrester I. 135 The names must certainly have been supplied by stars, out of consideration to the feelings of families, I suppose.
1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. II. xi. 267 There were no stars, or other typographical symbols, indicating the passages omitted.
1904 A. Morrison Green Diamond ii. ii Here you are. Lot 87 star, one magnum real old Imperial Tokay... Lot 88 star, ditto.
1962 Camden (Arkansas) News 5 Feb. 2/3 A Star indicates an outstanding film of its type.
2014 Plymouth Herald (Nexis) 7 Nov. 31 Tickets are required for events marked with a star (*).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > [noun] > holder of stocks or shares > asterisk at name of
star1730
1730 List Surviving Nominees 2 The Number of Stars denote the Number of Shares.
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. xi. 273 ‘The only stars I have got,’ said Mr. Ormsby, demurely, ‘are four stars in India stock.’
1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xx. 175 She was reported to have..three stars to her name in the East India stockholders' list.
1903 Times of India 7/5 They must have been surprised at their own self-restraint, when they hauled down their flags, with sundry stars to their names in East Indian stock.
c.
(a) An indication of the quality of a product, service, etc., as represented by one or more asterisks or similar symbols in various grading systems, the number of stars typically increasing with the quality of the product, service, etc., so marked.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > mark of quality > [noun]
stamp1542
hallmark1852
star1870
Kitemark1952
woolmark1964
rosette1966
CE1988
1870 Daily News 23 Nov. 8/2 (advt.) Fine old cognac brandies... In cases as imported, one to three stars.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 479 It was in consequence of a portwine beverage on top of Hennessy's three stars.
1968 S. E. Ellacott Hist. Everyday Things in Eng. 1914–68 ii. 42 Frozen foods and refrigerators were graded with stars according to the length of time they could be kept fresh. One star denoted a week, two stars a month, and three stars three months.
1982 Sunday Tel. 1 Aug. 6/1 My correspondent objects to the use of star petrol ratings in place of octane numbers.
2013 West Austral. (Perth) (Nexis) 26 Oct. 12 Energy ratings exceeding 6 stars can be gained in other climate zones and different orientations.
(b) spec. Any of a number of asterisks or similar symbols awarded to a hotel, restaurant, tourist attraction, etc., indicating its rank in a grading system; originally as placed against its name in a guidebook.four-star, five-star, Michelin star, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1876 A. D. Whitney Sights & Insights I. xvii. 181 Neither of these [pictures] are marked with ‘stars’ in Baedeker.
1886 ‘S. Coolidge’ What Katy did Next vi. 138 ‘Following a star’, in their choice of a hotel..they had decided upon one of those thus distinguished in Baedeker's guide-book.]
1905 E. M. Forster Where Angels fear to Tread vi. 172 Giotto..has painted two frescoes... That is why Baedeker gives the place a star.
1939 J. B. Priestley Let People Sing v. 99 A bad inn that is given two stars in the Automobile Association's handbook.
1974 Guardian 20 Mar. 1/1 The Michelin Guide..said that no [British] restaurants had been awarded two to three stars.
2010 S. E. Subak Rescue & Flight iii. 67 The beautiful hotel where they met was rated with four stars after the war.
10.
a. gen. Any image or stylized representation of a star.This conventionally takes the form of a number of rays diverging from a central point or circle; or of a geometrical figure of five or more radiating points, such as is formed by extending the edges of a pentagon, hexagon, etc., until each meets with another.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > representation in art > [noun] > an artistic representation > others
quathriganc1175
starc1384
yoke1415
sheafc1420
arrow1548
thunder-dart1569
memento mori1598
quadriga1600
Triton1601
anchor1621
chimera1634
forest-work1647
Bacchanaliaa1680
Bacchanal1753
subject1781
harp1785
mask1790
arrowhead1808
gorgoneion1842
Amazonomachia1845
Amazonomachy1893
mythograph1893
physicomorph1895
horns of consecration1901
double image1939
motion study1977
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Amos v. 26 Ȝe han born tabernaclis to Moloch..and ymage of ȝoure ydolis, the sterre [L. sidus] of ȝour god, whiche ȝe maden to ȝou.
c1400 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Laud) (1952) 134 Of golde he makeþ hym on table Al ful of sterren [a1425 Linc. Inn steorren], saunz fable.
1432 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 26 (MED) A hole vestement of blu veluet with sterres & mones of golde.
1538 Inventories Relig. Houses in Archaeologia (1871) 43 215 i cope of oulde redd velvett spotted wyth sters.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VIII f. lxxiiijv Set with starres of gold foyle, and the Orbes of the heauens by the crafte of colours in the roffe.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. vii. 69 The Armour that I saw in your Tent to night, are those Starres or Sunnes vpon it? View more context for this quotation
1672 W. Salmon Polygraphice iv. xxxiii. 275 A pontifical and majestick chair, embroidred and embossed with stars of gold.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 124 A Circle of Stars glew'd to the Canvas over the Head of the Figure [of the Virgin].
1795 S. Denne Let. in Archaeologia 12 114 A star of eight points within a double circle, the device of John Tate, supposed to have been the first Paper-maker in England.
1846 A. Soyer Gastron. Regenerator 424 When partly set form a rosette or star upon each, with fillets of hard-boiled white of eggs and truffles.
1890 A. J. Mounteney-Jephson Emin Pasha 290 His own flag with the crescent and three stars,..was flying at the fore.
1911 E. Huntington Palestine & its Transformation i. 13 Women whose faces were disfigured with tattooed patterns of stars, circles, or simple lines of dark blue spots.
1968 Lima (Ohio) News 13 Oct. c1 The cake was shaped into a star which spread 40 inches from tip to tip.
2010 C. S. Rossiter Turkey & Eagle iii. 52 When Somalia was recreated as a state in 1960, the government chose a five-pointed star for its flag.
b. A badge, typically of precious metal, in the shape of or ornamented with a star, worn as part of the insignia of an order of knighthood or of chivalry, or awarded as a military decoration or to mark military service.See also blue star n., gold star n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > symbol of rank > [noun] > insignia of order > specific insignia of knightly order
the Garterc1350
collar1488
star1602
blue ribbon1607
yellow ribbon1651
red ribbon1652
string1660
green ribbon1672
crossa1684
glory1693
cordon1727
O.M.1903
M.B.E.1917
OBE1917
society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > decorations or orders
Order of St Michael1530
Legion of Honour1802
clasp1813
Iron Cross1813
medal1813
star1844
Victoria Cross1856
V.C.1859
Medal of Honour1861
bar1864
yellow jacket1864
V.D.1901
Croix de Guerre1915
Military Cross1915
C.G.M.1916
Military Medal1916
pip1917
M.M.1918
purple heart1918
Maconochie Cross1919
Maconochie Medal1919
wound-stripe1919
T.D.1924
rooty gong1925
Silver Star1932
Ritterkreuz1940
Africa Star1943
ruptured duck1945
Spam medal1945
screaming eagle1946
1602 S. Patrick tr. J. de Hainault Estate of Church 414 The knights of this order [sc. the (French) Order of the Star] carried a starre [Fr. vne estoille] in theyr hattes or on their coates.
1693 London Gaz. No. 2845/2 They presented to his Electoral Highness..the Two Stars or Glories, and Two Pieces of Ribbon of the Order [of the Garter].
1736 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 693/1 The Badge of this Order is a red Star with 8 Points... The Star is ty'd by a Silver String to a Ribbon of Crimson Velvet.
1795 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 763 For a' that, and a' that, His ribband, star, and a' that.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby I. iii. ii. 260 A Field Marshal covered with stars?
1862 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip I. i. 8 Lord Ascot in his star and ribbon..walked with his arm in the doctor's into chapel.
1901 Essex Weekly News 15 Mar. 2/4 Deceased..wore the Egyptian medal and the Khedive's star.
1946 W. S. Churchill Victory 143 Two new stars for operations in the East will also mark the service of those who have gone out..to finish the war against the Japanese.
1951 Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald 11 Jan. 4/4 On this particular evening Howland wore the star of the order on the lapel of his evening coat.
2012 M. R. Gordon & B. E. Trainor Endgame xxvi. 496 His commanders nominated him for a Silver Star but the award was downgraded to a Bronze Star.
c. A badge of rank, authority, or military service in the shape of a star.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > police insignia
star1830
chevron1868
shield1903
potsy1932
tin1949
society > communication > indication > insignia > [noun] > badge > types of badge
favoura1616
field mark1653
cockade1709
star1830
button1837
pin1848
brassard1870
patch1884
shoulder patch1947
badging1983
1830 T. Robson Brit. Herald I. 115/1 The..commanders of the rank of general, likewise wear..a silver embroidered star.
1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 296/3 Policemen's regulation rubber coats..pocket for billy and shield for star.
1917 Pacific Reporter 164 942/1 The sheriff thereupon gave to Tony John a deputy sheriff's star,..and instructed Tony John to wear the star under the lapel of his vest.
1983 P. Abbott & N. Thomas Partisan Warfare 38 Generals wore gilt swords and batons over a large six-pointed silver star, field officers gold six-pointed stars, and company officers silver ones.
2014 Daily Nation (Nairobi) (Nexis) 12 Dec. The President has one more star than the Chief of the Defence Forces and is, therefore, of higher rank.
d. A small piece of coloured paper, etc., in the shape of a star, awarded to a child (typically in primary school) for good work or behaviour; often stuck next to a piece of work, or on a wallchart. Later also: a similar image of a star displayed on a computer screen for the same purpose.See also gold star n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > means of teaching > [noun] > teaching aids > reward for good work
prize1752
reward book1801
gold star1886
star1890
1890 Ladies' Home Jrnl. June 2/4 The victor [i.e. the best conversationalist] then receives a gold star on his or her tally-card, and the vanquished a silver star.
1930 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 11 Apr. 19/3 Every member of the class is trying to read and report on at least five books this semester, for which he is rewarded with a star on his card.
1977 Cleethorpes News 6 May 17/2 The books were all very neat and dotted with gold stars on nearly every page. The stars are worth house points which build up over the term.
2012 C. Gray & S. MacBlain Learning Theories Childhood iii. 38 Using a simple teaching package, he rewarded right answers with, for example, a star or ‘well done’ on screen.
11.
a. Palmistry. A conjunction of several short lines on the palm, forming a figure of a star.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > palmistry > [noun] > mark on the hand > star-shaped marking
star1558
1558 F. Withers tr. J. ab Indagine Briefe Introd. Art Chiromancy ix. sig. F.vii Wicked and noughtye women haue starres [L. stellulas] wyth a halfe compasse in the hyll of Iupiter.
1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie i. 43 When there are three stars or three points in the Line of Life, they shew that a man hath been calumniated and traduced by occasion of women.
?1720 W. Lilly tr. ‘E. Pater’ Bk. Knowl. (new ed.) iii. ii. 58 A Star like a Comet, threatens Ruin by War, and Death by Pestilence.
1855 E. D. E. N. Southworth Missing Bride xiv. 186 And where the lines of life and death meet, a sanguine spot and a great star!
1922 H. Morgenthau & F. Strother All in Life-time xviii. 378 The palmist..found that the lines at the base of my right forefinger formed a star.
2013 A. Chauran Palmistry Every Day iii. 75 A star on a rising line of Apollo or on the mount under the ring finger can occasionally be a bad thing.
b. A starfish or any other member of the echinoderm subphyla Asterozoa or Crinozoa, typically having arms or tentacles radiating from a central disc. See also brittlestar n. and feather-star n. at feather n. Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Echinodermata > [noun] > subphylum Eleutherozoa > class Asteroidea > member of (starfish)
starfish1538
sea-pad1558
sea-star1569
star1569
pad1613
finger fish1709
sea-sun1731
stelleridan1835
stelliridean1837
asteroid1841
sand-star1841
spoon-worm1841
sun star1841
sun starfish1850
Stellerid1882
stelleroid1900
1569 E. Fenton tr. P. Boaistuau Certaine Secrete Wonders Nature f. 50v Plinie, and Plutarch do likewise affirme that the starre [Fr. l'Estoille] by hir onely touche, doth melte, boyle and burne whatsoeuer she toucheth, and knowing hir vertue, she suffreth hir selfe to be touched with other fishe, to the ende she maye burne them.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. ix. lx. 269 Of the sea fishes called Starres [Fr. Des Estoilles de Mer]... The Starre in the sea [Fr. Estoilles de Mer; L. stellam in mari]..is..a very little fish, made like a starre.
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. §v. iv. 122 All Stars have their Mouths in the middle underneath, as the Sea-Urchin.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 272 The Body of this Star is not over a quarter of an Inch in Diameter, five corner'd, and cover'd with purple Prickles.
a1794 C. Cordiner Remarkable Ruins (1795) II. Sutherland-shire These stars are dredged up in deep water with stones from a corally bottom.
1871 Harper's Mag. May 828/2 The rough spiny armor of the stars.
1899 A. D. Mead in 29th Ann. Rep. Commissioners Inland Fisheries (State Rhode Island) 64 These stars, which are regenerating an arm, grew at about the same rate as the complete stars during the same period.
1935 Bull. Mt. Desert Island Biol. Lab 20 Gorgonocephalus agassizi, the basket-star, was found in greater abundance than ever before and was collected in perfect shape. Taking these stars from the lines of the small trawl-boats was the best method of bringing in the animals without breaking off their arms.
1995 J. Moyse & P. A. Tyler in P. J. Hayward & J. S. Ryland Handbk. Marine Fauna N.W. Europe xii. 662 In the stars they [sc. ambulacra and interambulacra] are confined to the lower surface of the animal.
c. Metallurgy. A starlike pattern of radially arranged crystals on the surface of solid antimony, formed during slow cooling from the molten state and indicative of its purity; cf. regulus n. 3. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > antimony > crystalline pattern on
star1651
1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces ii. 115 Basilius Valentinus in his Triumph of Antimony, where he writeth of the signed star [Ger. vom Signat-stern].
1660 J. Harding tr. B. Valentine Triumphant Chariot Antimony 150 If thou hast proceeded aright,..thou shalt have a white star [Ger. Stern] shining like to pure silver, and divided, as if the most accurate Painter had described it with its Radij or Beames.
1708 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum (ed. 2) I Regulus... The Chymists make much ado about a Regulus of Antimony made with Steel, because of a kind of Star that appears in the Bottom of it.
1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. II. 14 This star is nothing but a particular disposition of the parts of the Antimony, which have the property of running naturally into facets and needles.
1807 A. Aikin & C. R. Aikin Dict. Chem. & Mineral. I. 81/2 The strong tendency of antimony to assume a crystalline form, is also shewn by the appearance of a radiated star, or pinnated leaves, like those of fern, with which the surface of pure antimony that is not cooled too hastily is generally covered.
1868 W. Crookes & E. Röhrig Kerl's Pract. Treat. Metall. I. 546 The appearance of a star upon the surface of the regulus [of antimony] indicates a certain degree of purity.
1901 B. Blount Pract. Electro-chem. ii. 139 Antimony of good quality..shows its crystalline character by a well-marked stellate appearance. This appearance is known as the ‘star’ of antimony.
1975 B. J. T. Dobbs Found. Newton's Alchemy v. 148 What did the star of antimony mean to Newton?
1995 Nature 23 Feb. 669/2 He illuminates Starkey's search for the alchahest, philosophical mercury or universal solvent; and describes his fascination with antimony and its crystalline star.
d. Zoology. Any of the star-shaped forms or apertures found on the surface of fossilized corals, and of many extant stony corals (order Scleractinia), marking the location of the individual polyps. Also: a coral polyp, esp. with its tentacles extended.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > zoophyte > [noun] > star-shaped
star1677
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of > parts of > sponge spicule > star-shaped
stella1828
star1839
stellate1880
sterraster1887
chiaster1888
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire v. 87 Of Astroites or starry-stones, such as in bulk are irregular, but adorned all over with many stars, there are no less in this County than four several sorts.
1715 R. Thoresby Ducatus Leodiensis 456 A solid Corall, with concave Stars, very fair.
1755 J. Ellis Ess. Nat. Hist. Corallines 83 When I applied my Glass to it [sc. a Sea-fig], I found the whole Surface covered with small Stars of six Rays, like small Polypes of six claws.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 266/2 Caryophyllia. Animals actiniform,..provided with..tentacula, which project from the surface of stars of cylindriconical cells.
1858 W. Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. at Anthozoa 36/2 When the animals are simple and solitary, and only a single star is visible, they form the genus Fungia... In some, the whole surface of the coral is roughened with little stars, showing the numbers of animals living in society.
1901 Merck's Rep. Feb. 58/1 Vivid stars of richest crimson, that look like blooms on the branches of the coral.
1953 Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 31 166 There may be two to four rows of these tubuli between stars.
12. gen. Any natural object or phenomenon resembling or likened to a star; esp. the open corolla (or corolla and disc) of a flower.
ΚΠ
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball v. 634 Amongst the leaues growe flowers,..of colour white, with a greene starre [Fr. estoille, Du. sterreken] in the middle.
a1635 T. Randolph Muses Looking-glasse iv. i. 65 in Poems (1638) Nature adornes The Peacocks taile with starres.
1665 R. Hooke Micrographia xiv. 90 One of these stars, or branched Figures frozen on Vrine.
1777 T. Cavallo Compl. Treat. Electr. 207 The Star and Pencil of electric Light.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) III. 364 Leaves upright..those at the end forming a star.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 63 Now the light diminished to a distant star that seemed to twinkle on the waters.
1851 G. Meredith Love in Valley xiv Jasmine winds the porch with stars two and three.
1930 O. Lattimore High Tartary xxxiii. 359 A star of green oasis whose points reached up to bare crags.
2002 Observer 24 Nov. (Life Suppl.) 64/4 ‘Queen of Sheba’ is one of the first to flower in our garden, with an opening star of pointed vermilion petals rimmed with yellow.
13. An arrangement of objects in a manner resembling a conventional image of a star.
a. A number of streets, avenues, etc., radiating outwards from a central point.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > junction of roads, paths, or tracks > [noun] > cross-roads > meeting of more than four ways
starc1660
c1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1644 (1955) II. 130 A grove of tall Elmes cutt into a Starr, every ray being a Walke whose center is a large fountaine.
1694 J. Evelyn Diary ann. 1644 (1955) V. 193 I went also to see the building begining neare St. Giles's where seaven streetes make a starr from a Doric Pillar plac'd in the middle of <a> Circular Area.
1737 S. Whatley tr. K. L. von Pöllnitz Mem. I. xvii. 293 Imagine the Margrave's House to be at the Entrance of a great Forest, in the Center of a Star form'd by thirty two Walks.
1762 Ld. Kames Elements Crit. III. xxiv. 307 A common centre of walks, termed a star.
1844 Rep. Commissioners Inq. S. Wales 88 in Parl. Papers XVI. 77 Supposing you live at Carmarthen, and were put in the centre of a star of roads, how many miles of road do you think a good surveyor could look after, and do his duty?
1963 I. Sammet & J. Oldenburg tr. W. Schneider Babylon is Everywhere vii. iii. 346 Stalin built an enormous star of streets through Moscow, radiating from the Kremlin.
2012 V. M. Welter in M. Azaryahu & S. I. Troen Tel-Aviv xv. 314 Tel-Aviv originated from a central square—Zina Dizengoff Circle—surrounded by a star of streets.
b. A number of objects arranged in a manner resembling a conventional image of a star (see sense 10a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > other specific arrangements > [noun] > other spec.
quincunx1658
star1831
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son I. xxiv. 184 In the spaces between them and the upper deck were two stars of pistols.
1864 J. Evans Coins Anc. Britons iii. 45 When a central pellet is surrounded by a circle of smaller pellets or ovals, I have called it a ‘rosette’ or ‘star of pellets’.
1957 Hammond (Indiana) Times 27 Feb. d3 (caption) String 24 straws to form a star.
1999 P. D. Elias From Grassland to Rockland iii. 52 All of the trunks came down,..forming a star of dead trees.
14. An object having the form of a conventional image of a star (see sense 10a).† b. A spoked wheel used to drive the rotation of the bobbin in a silk-winding machine. Also more fully star pulley n. (a) at Compounds 5, star-wheel n. 2. Obsolete.† c. Printing A series of radial spokes in the shape of a cross or star, forming handles on the roller of a copperplate or lithographic printing press. Also more fully star handle. Obsolete.† d. A type of iron pin used to secure a bird net. Obsolete.
a. = star fort n. at Compounds 5. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > fort according to shape
pentagonon1625
star-sconce1632
octagon1648
pentagon1648
hexagon1669
star fort1669
tetragon1669
star1672
star redoubt1687
trigon1688
1672 J. Lacey tr. A. Tacquet Mil. Archit. xviii. 41 in T. Venn Mil. & Maritine Discipline ii The Banck opposite to the Town..may be fortified with less Works; To wit, with a half sexangular Star [L. dimidiata..stella sexangula], or with a plain Bulwork.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Pref. p. v/1 The Construction of Fortresses; as Citadel, Castle,..Star, Redoubt.
1871 G. W. Greene Life of Nathanael Greene III. iv. xviii. 312 Could the stockade fort be taken, and a lodgment made in one of the angles of the star, the garrison would be compelled to yield.
2014 N. Wilding Galileo's Idol iii. 53 The design of Palma [fortification], with its classic trace italienne star, had not been superseded by Galileo's military theory... The fixed star of Palmanova was built..through dispute and discord.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > winding > winding on spool or bobbin > machine for > for silk thread > parts of
star1777
shoe-board1845
1777 F. B. Fynney in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 67 462 The nucleus..is the smaller end of that part of a silk engine called a star.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 269 The long driving-shaft..on which are fixed a series of light wheels called stars, which bear the bobbin-pulleys, and turn them round by friction.
1849 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 47 135 The larger star revolves, driving in a contrary direction, towards the garland, the star below it, which holds in its centre the pivot of the reel.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > printing machine or press > parts of printers or presses > [noun] > other parts
nut1642
justifier1683
star1819
page-cord1841
joggling-table1849
spur1872
web feed1890
type-lever1908
banjo1964
thimble1979
1819 A. Schlichtegroll tr. A. Senefelder Compl. Course Lithography 197 The cylinder is now turned round by means of a star or cross, such as copper-plate presses have [Ger. vermittels zweyer, anstatt der Kurbel angebrachter Stangen].
1825 T. C. Hansard Typographia ii. xvii. 903 With the labour of two men to turn the star, [the star-press] could produce about fifteen hundred per day of what two men at a common printing-press would be ashamed if they did not do four thousand.
1859 Patents for Inventions: Abridgm. Specif. Printing 27 A short distance above these ribs is a solid iron cylinder, made to revolve by a star handle connected with the axis, the radii of this star being as long as the height from the ground will permit.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. III. 2309/1 Star,..2. The series of radial spokes, forming handles, on the roller of a copperplate or lithographic printing-press.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowling equipment > [noun] > net > poles or lines for nets
lurch-line1578
star1851
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 58/1 A bird-net is about twelve yards square; it is spread flat upon the ground, to which it is secured by four ‘stars’. These are iron pins.
15. slang in later use.
a. A person who wears a star as a badge or decoration; esp. (U.S.) a policeman. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > law enforcement > police force or the police > [noun] > policeman > other types of policeman
star1714
Special Constable1733
police runner1782
snoozy1823
New Policeman1830
redbreast1862
roundsman1868
state trooper1883
harness cop1891
black and tans1920
B Special1922
tans1932
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) i. 6 While Peers and Dukes, and all their sweeping Train, And Garters, Stars, and Coronets appear.
1866 Harper's Mag. Feb. 356/2 The star [= policeman] assuring Frankie that he would find his mother for him before long.
1997 L. H. Larson & B. J. Cottrell Gate City (enlarged ed.) iv. 94 Passing policemen, called ‘stars,’ picked the unfortunate man up, placed him in custody, and carried him off to jail.
b. spec. British. A prisoner serving his or her first sentence, (formerly) distinguished by a badge bearing a star. Cf. Compounds 4b.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > first timer
starOE
fresh fish1623
star1903
stooge1930
1903 Ld. W. B. Nevill Penal Servitude xi. 146 I as a ‘star’ had nothing to do with him directly.
1945 Prisons & Borstals (Home Office) ii. 18 An Ordinary Class prisoner comes into the Second Stage after 12 weeks, a Star after 4 weeks.
2007 A. Stokes Pit of Shame v. 87 Even today in some prisons first timers may be nicknamed ‘stars’.
16. Architecture. A type of moulding carved with a continuous series of figures representing stars; = star moulding n. at Compounds 5. Also: a figure representing a star that forms part of such a moulding. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > moulding > other mouldings
bowtell1376
crownwork1594
protypum1601
chaplet1623
bandeleta1645
bedding-moulding1664
quadra1664
surbase1678
platband1696
bed-moulding1703
eyebrow1703
square1703
gorge1706
nerve1728
heel1734
quirk-moulding1776
star1781
bead1799
rope moulding1813
zigzag1814
chevron-moulding1815
nebule1823
billet1835
dancette1838
pellet moulding1838
vignette moulding1842
bird's beak moulding1845
beak-head ornament1848
beak-head1849
billet moulding1851
beading1858
bead-work1881
Venetian dentil1892
chevron-work-
1781 H. Emlyn Proposition New Order Archit. 11 The Semi-circle described from the Center of the star to the Top of the astragal, gives the greatest Projection of the volute.
1836 H. G. Knight Archit. Tour Normandy 199 The most common mouldings are the billet,..hatchet, nebule, star, rope.
1885 Scotsman 15 Aug. 7/3 The great western doorway..has the fish-bone, the chain, the star, small dog tooth, and the nail head.
1914 Quiver May 680/2 There are many others, styled embattled, lozenge, pellet, star, nailhead, indented; and it is always possible to discover each style of Gothic architecture by the peculiarities of the mouldings.
2005 C. Fewins Church Explorer's Handbk. iii. 73 As well as zig-zags, typical Norman motifs are billetts.., barrels, stars and beak-heads.
17. A star-shaped fracture, blemish, or pattern of radiation.† a. cant and Criminals' slang. The practice or an act of breaking the glass of a window, display case, etc., in order to carry out a robbery. Cf. to star the glaze at star v. Phrases. Obsolete.† c. A star-shaped blemish on the surface of a piece of paper. Usually in plural. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. (at cited word) The star is a game chiefly practised by young boys,..although the offence is capital... A person convicted of this offence, is said to have been done for a star.
b. The mark of a fracture in a surface of glass or ice, consisting of a central hole or smash with lines of cracks radiating from it. Cf. star v. 5a, 5b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > lack of beauty > disfigurement > [noun] > a disfigurement or blemish > specific shape
star1838
spider-leg1873
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > [noun] > a crack or breach > specific type of or having specific cause
fire crack1656
star1838
flake1866
shrinkage crack1867
snowflake1919
microfracture1939
microcrack1950
1838 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 21 66 The fracture, or star, almost always occurs near the top of the lining [of an electric jar].
1842 Ld. Tennyson Epic in Poems (new ed.) II. 2 Where, three times slipping from the outer edge, I bump'd the ice into three several stars.
1843 C. J. Lever Jack Hinton iii. 14 An ominous-looking star in the looking-glass bore witness to the bullet of a pistol.
1911 G. K. Chesterton Innocence Fr. Brown i. 16 This window, like all the rest along the frontage of the hotel, was of frosted and figured glass; but in the middle of it was a big, black smash, like a star in the ice.
2005 J. Kaplan Contact Wounds iv. 79 The glass hadn't shattered, but a transverse crack on the right chopped my vision in halves, while a veritable star in the left lens turned everything to fragments.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > blemish in paper
star1852
1852 Illustr. London News 20 Mar. 243/1 Commercial paper is covered with a multitude of microscopic spots or stars, which cannot be removed without changing the colour of the paper.
c1865 J. Wylde Circle of Sci. I. 153/2 We..find unaccountable spots, and what are called ‘stars’ on the surface.
d. Physics. A pattern of linear tracks produced by subatomic particles radiating from a central point, as observed in a photographic emulsion, cloud chamber, bubble chamber, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactivity > ionizing radiation > [noun] > cosmic rays > group of particles > image of
star1937
1937 Nature 2 Oct. 585/1 From a single point within the emulsion several tracks..take their departure. We observed..‘stars’ with six, seven, eight and nine particles.
1948 Science 26 Nov. 588/2 Approximately 75% of the heavy negative mesons give rise to stars when they come to rest in the emulsion.
1967 M. B. Turner Philos. & Sci. Behavior ii. vii. 173 The star in the cloud chamber photograph can only be existentially read by a person conversant in the field of cosmic ray research.
a2011 A. Kamal Particle Physics (2014) iii. 161 Anti-neutrons may be..detected by their annihilation star in a bubble chamber.
18. In needlework, crochet, etc.: = star stitch n. at Compounds 5.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > loops or stitches
purl1564
jours1865
punto a maglia1865
whole stitch1870
fibre-stitch1882
hollie stitch1882
star1882
streak stitch1882
Venetian stitch1882
leadwork1900
Kat stitch1919
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 235 Etoile Stitch. Also known as Star, and made to fill in nine or sixteen squares of a netted foundation, with combinations of Slip Stitch, Point de Toile [etc.]..arranged so to form stars.
2001 C. Ahles Fine Machine Sewing v. 85 Decorative stitches like the daisy or star.
19. Electrical Engineering. A configuration of (typically) three electrical windings or other impedances in which one end of each is connected to a common node; = wye n.2 b(b). Frequently in in star: (connected) so as to form such a configuration. Cf. delta n. 3b.Such a configuration is often used in a symmetric three-phase system, in which the alternating current in each winding is at the same frequency but offset by a third of a cycle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [adverb]
in star1891
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [noun] > induction motor > connection to common point > set of windings with
star1891
wye1980
1891 Electr. Rev. 23 Oct. 475/1 These three bobbins may be connected with three outer wires in two different ways; in a star or in a triangle.
1891 Electr. Rev. 23 Oct. 475/2 (caption) The ends of each Bobbin..are free, and permit the connections of the three, in star or in triangle.
1907 J. F. C. Snell Distribution Electr. Energy 19 A usual practice is to require the middle of the star, or neutral point, to be earthed.
1924 A. L. Cook Elem. Electr. Engin. xviii. 509 When starting, the three groups of coils are connected in star (or Y).
1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 709/1 A 4-branch star converts to a 6-branch mesh.
1976 F. de la C. Chard Electr. Supply v. 147 Transformers for 3-phase duty..may have both primary and secondary windings connected in delta or star.
2014 Frontiers in Energy 8 365/2 The switching from delta to star or vice-versa should be made at an appropriate mechanical load.
20. = star network n. at Compounds 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > link or network > types of
star1924
star network1924
data link1953
downlink1963
uplink1968
integrated services digital network1974
ISDN1974
UMTS1990
1924 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 18 526/2 The use of a star instead of a mesh network is not open to higher number of circuits.
1956 W. H. Middendorf Anal. Electric Circuits xix. 259 Cases frequently arise in which a load connected as a star is in parallel with a load connected as a mesh.
1972 Proc. IEEE 60 1411/1 The network configuration is basically that of a multiple ring rather than a star.
1990 Network World 12 Nov. 57/2 The star element branches off into connecting spokes to nearby buildings from sections of this ring backbone.
2012 T. Robertazzi Basics Computer Networking ii. 19 Gigabit Ethernet wiring is either between two computers directly or..in a star topology with a hub or switch in the center of the star.
21. Billiards. In the game of pool (pool n.3 2(a)): the act of buying an additional life or lives (see star v. 8). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > actions or types of play
raking1674
coup1744
Whitechapel play1755
bricole1775
trailing1775
star1839
cannoning1841
safety1844
spotting1849
billiard-sharping1865
stringing1873
safety play1896
potting1909
1839 E. Kentfield Game of Billiards 42 Only one star is allowed in a pool.
1923 L. H. Dawson Hoyle's Games Modernized 342 In a pool of six players, or less, only one star is allowed.
Phrases
P1. Noun phrases with of or and.
a.
(a)
Star of the Sea n. [after post-classical Latin stella maris Stella Maris n.] (a title given to) the Virgin Mary; cf. Stella Maris n., sea-star n. 1.In quot. OE apparently with a postposed unmarked genitive singular feminine sǣ ‘of the sea’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > Mary > [noun]
ladyOE
queenOE
MaryOE
St MaryOE
starOE
Our LadylOE
lemana1225
maidena1225
maid Marya1225
heaven queenc1225
mothera1275
maiden Maryc1300
Star of the Seac1300
advocatrixc1390
mother-maidc1390
flower, gem, etc., of virginitya1393
the Virgina1393
mediatricea1400
paramoura1400
salver14..
advocatrice?a1430
Mother of God?a1430
way of indulgence?a1430
advocatessc1450
mother-maidenc1450
rose of Jerichoa1456
mediatrixc1475
viergec1475
addresseressa1492
fleur-de-lis?a1513
rosine?a1513
salvatrice?a1513
saviouress1563
mediatressa1602
advocatress1616
Christotokos1625
Deipara1664
V.M.1670
Madonnaa1684
the Virgin Mother1720
Panagia1776
Mater Dolorosa1800
B.V.M.1838
dispensatrixa1864
Theotokos1874
dispensatress1896
OE Hymns (Julius A.vi) lxvi. 1 in H. Gneuss Hymnar u. Hymnen im englischen Mittelalter (1968) 349 O Stella maris, ave alma mater dei : eala þu steorra sæ hal wes þu halig moder godes.]
c1300 St. Mary Magdalen (Laud) l. 11 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 462 Þis word Marie so is briȝh[t]nesse and bitokne þe [read bi-tokneþe] steorre of þe se.
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 735 Heil, sterre of þe See so briht!
1558 Primer Eng. & Lat. (STC 16082) sig. I.viii Haile starre of the sea most radiant,..A pure virgin alway perseuerant.
1653 Marquess of Winchester tr. N. Talon Holy Hist. v. xix. 319 Where is Mary, where is this Star of the Sea, whose sole name is able to cause a thousand Fountains and Rivers to spring in the midst of Desarts?
1725 J. Coats New Dict. Heraldry (rev. ed.) 164 Robert..instituting the Order of the Star; in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, call'd the Star of the Sea.
1855 Amer. & Foreign Christian Union Aug. 386 Next to the term ‘Mother of God,’ the names most commonly conferred upon her, especially in the hymns sung to her praise, ‘Star of the Sea,’ and ‘Our Lady’.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses (1942) xiii. 192 The voice of prayer to her who is in her pure radiance a beacon ever to the stormtossed heart of man, Mary, star of the sea.
2001 S. P. Revard Pindar & Renaissance Hymn-Ode v. 259 As a star serves to guide mariners, Mary, the star of the sea (‘Stella maris’), is petitioned to look down to calm the waters.
(b)
Star of David n. A six-pointed figure consisting of two superimposed equilateral triangles, used as a Jewish and Israeli symbol; cf. Magen David n. [Compare German Davidstern, Davidsstern (mid 19th cent. or earlier).]
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > non-Christian symbols or images > [noun] > six-pointed star
Magen David1894
Star of David1899
1899 World (N.Y.) 21 Aug. 12/6 In the centre is a big white star called the star of David and around it twelve small stars to represent the disciples of Christ.
1920 L. J. Levinger Jewish Chaplain in France iii. 34 I saw the occasional Jewish graves marked with the Star of David.
1986 M. Forrester Out of Char. (1987) ii. 23 Orthodox Jews with their little velvet bags embroidered with the Star of David.
2015 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 8 Mar. (Sunday Review section) 3 Boone wore a tie on which the flag of Israel, with its Star of David, was conspicuous.
b.
(a)
Stars and Stripes n. (with the) (a popular name for) the national flag of the United States of America; cf. star-spangled banner n. at star-spangled adj. Compounds.The flag, when first adopted by Congress (14th June 1777), contained 13 stripes and 13 stars, representing the 13 States of the Union. As further states joined the Union, the number of stars was increased from time to time; since 1960, following the accession of Hawaii as the 50th state, it has contained 50 stars.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > flag > U.S. flag
Old Thirteen1792
Stars and Stripes1809
gridiron1812
star-spangled banner1814
Old Glory1862
1809 Amer. Law Jrnl. 7 Jan. 280 It is painful to perceive..the American stars and stripes vanishing from the scene.
1861 W. H. Brewer Let. 23 June in Up & down Calif. (2003) 119 Flags stream from nearly every church steeple in the city..but all are the Stars and Stripes.
1900 N.Y. Times 22 July 18/5 A new Maine statute prohibits the placing of inscriptions upon the Stars and Stripes.
1975 Newsweek (Nexis) 21 Apr. 23 United States Ambassador John Gunther Dean arrived carrying the Stars and Stripes.
2012 Irish Times (Weekend Review) 5/4 Then a tank appeared on a nearby hill, followed by a second and a third, flying the Stars and Stripes.
(b)
Stars and Bars n. now chiefly historical (with the) (a popular name for) the first official flag of the Confederate States of America (see confederate adj. 3a), flown from 4th March, 1861 to 1st May, 1863.The flag consists of three alternating red and white stripes, with a blue square in the top left corner containing seven (later thirteen) white stars arranged in a circle.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > flag > U.S. flag > Confederate flag
Stars and Bars1861
1861 N.Y. Times 23 Aug. 2/4 The white flag of the Louisville ‘Peace Party’ is only the ‘stars and bars’ in disguise.
1930 D. Allen Fight for Peace xviii. 442 Ladies' societies worked on the palmetto and pelican flags, or on the Stars and Bars.
1974 Mexia (Texas) Daily News 6 Apr. 3/2 Each meeting includes display of the Stars and Bars.
2013 C. E. Janney Remembering Civil War vi. 177 The Philadelphia Brigade would not march with their borrowed flag, but neither would the Stars and Bars be displayed.
c. In names of plants. Cf. Compounds 7. See also star of Bethlehem n.† Star of Naples n. Obsolete either of two perennial bulbous plants, Ornithogalum umbellatum and O. nutans (family Asparagaceae), having white stellate flowers with a green stripe on the outer surface of each tepal; cf. star of Bethlehem n. 1. [The second element is after post-classical Latin Ornithogalum Neopolitanum , former name of O. nutans (compare quot. 1629), apparently given with reference to Clusius, who first described O. nutans in 1601, and had received a specimen from Naples.] † star of night n. Obsolete rare a tropical evergreen tree, Clusia rosea (family Clusiaceae), native to Florida and the Caribbean, initially epiphytic, having pink and white flowers that open at night. The tree has been widely introduced across the tropics as an ornamental garden tree and is now considered invasive, esp. in Sri Lanka and Hawaii.
star of Jerusalem n. (a) the plant salsify Tragopogon porrifolius (family Asteraceae ( Compositae)); (b) (also more fully yellow star of Jerusalem) the goat's beard T. pratensis.The purple flower of T. porrifolius and the yellow flower of T. pratensis are surrounded by pointed green bracts that are longer than the petals.
ΚΠ
1568 W. Turner Herbal (rev. ed.) i. 77 I haue sene thre sundry sortes of Tragopogon, one sorte with a blewishe purple floure, which is called in the West parte of Englande, Starre of Hierusalem, because whilse the Sunne shyneth it openeth, and when it is vnder a clud, the floure shitteth [sic] to close agayne.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 41 Star of Jerusalem.
1665 R. Lovell Παμβοτανολογια (ed. 2) 415 Starres of Jerusalem, see Josephs-flower.
1745 J. Parsons Microsc. Theatre Seeds 324 It [sc. goat's-beard] is also called Joseph's Flower, Star of Jerusalem; because the Flower has a Starry Look when the Leaves are expanded.
1828 T. Forster Circle of Seasons 142 The Purple Goatsbeard or Star of Jerusalem is introduced now into our gardens, and is become common... This as well as the Yellow Star of Jerusalem closing its flowers at noon has been called Go to Bed at Noon.
1996 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 12 Oct. i5 Her elaborate 12-foot long, 2-foot high garden includes sunflowers, stars of Jerusalem, nasturtiums and petunias.
2003 J. Sanders Secrets of Wildflowers 114 Other names include buck's beard, star of Jerusalem, and Joseph's flower.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > Solomon's seal or star of Bethlehem
whitewort?c1400
Solomon's seal1543
dog's onion1548
white root1548
ornithogalum1562
Our Lady's cowslip1565
St John's seal1567
star of Bethlehem1573
ornithogal1578
field onion1582
Polygonatum1597
star of Bethlehem1629
Ladder to Heaven1640
Star of Naples1722
smilacina1808
seal-wort1837
lady's seal1870
peep of day1882
morning star1890
chinkerinchee1926
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole 138 Ornithogalum Neopolitanum. The Starre-flower of Naples.]
1722 T. Fairchild in R. Bradley Gen. Treat. Husbandry & Gardening (1724) III. 82 Plants flowering in April… Star of Naples.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 310/1 Naples, Star of, Ornithogalum.
1840 L. Johnson Every Lady her own Flower Gardener (ed. 3) iii. 42/2 Star of Naples, with hanging flowers.
ΚΠ
1864 A. H. R. Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Islands 788/1 Star-of-night, Clusia rosea.
1922 Textile Colorist Nov. 716/2 Few other plants in tropical America have more common names than the copey tree; the majority of the names relate to the gum secreting property of the tree, which is known in English as the balsam fig, balsam tree, rose-flowered balsam and star of night.
star of the earth n. any of several herbaceous plants having stellate flowers or leaves in a basal rosette growing close to the ground, spec. Plantago coronopus (family Plantaginaceae), Lepidum coronopus (family Brassicaceae), Geum urbanum (family Rosaceae).
ΚΠ
1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. v. 89 A third cure [for the bite of a mad dog]... Take the hearb which groweth in dry and barren hils, called The Starre of the earth.
1706 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 25 2266 The Star of the Earth, (so call'd,) in a famous Receipt against the biting of Mad-Dogs, he [sc. S. Dale] proves to be the Coronopus, and not the Sesamoides Salamanticum Magnum, which some mistake it for.
1736 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 39 360 Sir Robert Moray mentioned that a whole Kennel of Dogs, belonging to his Royal Highness, were bitten by a mad Dog, and had been lately cured by a certain Herb called Stellaria, or Star of the Earth.
1741 T. Steward in Philos. Trans. 1737–8 (Royal Soc.) 40 458 In Norfolk, my native County,..the Coronopus is called the Star of the Earth.
1849 R. Buxton Bot. Guide Flowering Plants Manch. 70 The yellow Avens, though rare in Scotland, is so frequent in rural places in England as to have obtained many familiar names. It is called herb Bennet, star of the earth, goldy flower, and its oldest name was blessed herb.
1864 West of Scotl. Hort. Mag. Oct. 136 I found, occupying the same ground that it did half a dozen years ago, Senebiera Coronopus (Star of the Earth).
1991 B. S. Middleditch & A. M. Amer Kuwaiti Plants 63 Plantago coronopus..Buck's horn plantain, Star of the Earth.
P2. to thank (also bless, curse) one's stars: to feel grateful for, or angry at, one's (good or bad) fortune. See also to thank one's lucky stars at lucky adj. Phrases 1.In quot. 1608 ironic.
ΚΠ
1590 L. R. Subtill Practise Fryer Frauncis 6 He passionately reported his ill fortune, and dismall discomfiture, cursing the starres that did boade him such bitter mishap.]
1597 E. S. Discouerie Knights of Poste sig. A4v I blesse my fortunate starres that it was my lucke to see thee before I die.
1608 G. Chapman Conspiracie Duke of Byron v. i. sig. Q3 My courage rais'd me, For the deare price of fiue and thirtie skarres, And that hath ruin'd me, I thanke my Starres.
1680 W. de Britaine Humane Prudence xxxii. 102 I am not (I bless my Stars) disturbed at any thing.
1711 M. Henry Hope & Fear Balanced 16 Then 'twill be Folly to curse your Stars (as some profanely speak).
1798 H. Brand Adelinda ii. ii. in Plays & Poems 275 Thank your stars, Strasbourg! for my timely appearance—Why I believe that Flora was going to beat you.
1807 Salmagundi 24 Jan. 18 I..blessed my stars that I was a bachelor.
1865 J. Hatton Bitter Sweets xiv You may thank your stars, my lad, that I followed Master Barns to-night.
1893 G. D. Leslie Lett. to Marco xix. 128 I curse my stars when the children bring me one of these helpless waifs and strays.
1922 J. Dickey Maturity J. W. Riley xx. 364 He is ever blessing his stars that it was in this neighborhood he was first given his true bearings and directions upon his successful career.
1954 Evening News (Sault Sainte Marie, Mich.) 18 Aug. 7/2 The Italians..were cursing their stars for not having learned some English before coming to this country.
2014 MX (Austral.) (Nexis) 12 Mar. 21 Thank your stars you are free now.
P3. to see stars: to have a subjective sensation of flashes of light, esp. as a result of a blow to the head; cf. Phrases 7a. [Compare Spanish ver las estrellas (1587 in the passage translated in quot. 1598 at sense 5a) and also French voir des étoiles (1626 in the passage translated in quot. 1640; compare earlier †faire voir (à quelqu'un) des étoiles au ciel, lit. ‘to make (someone) see the stars in the sky’ (c1600)).]
ΚΠ
1598Hee made him see starres [see sense 5a].
1640 tr. G. S. du Verdier Love & Armes Greeke Princes ii. v. 18 He struck such blows, as oftentimes made Rozalmond see Stars [Fr. que..Rozalmond voyoit les estoilles], though the Sun were but in the midst of his course.
1798 C. Stearns Bottle Conjuror iii. ii. in Dramatic Dialogues 310 Let us drink it off—or take a genteel sip at least. Do you suppose, we shall understand the stars—It may make us see stars if it be too strong.
1839 Spirit of Times 16 Nov. 434/1 She fetched me a slap in the face that made me see stars.
1894 J. D. Astley Fifty Years of my Life I. 142 Quicker than thought, in comes his right, and if you only see stars you are pretty lucky.
1966 D. Varaday Gara-Yaka's Domain xiv. 160 Had it been daylight I would still have seen the stars caused by the searing pain I felt in my thumb!
2012 Irish Times (Sports Monday) 6/7 I saw stars and was so dizzy I stumbled and crawled.
P4. In plural. In exclamations expressing surprise, exasperation, excitement, etc.† b. good stars! and variants. Cf. good heavens at heaven n. Phrases 3b. Obsolete.
a. my stars! and variants. Now archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. Iv O my starres! Why do you lowre vnkindly on a king?
1690 T. Betterton Prophetess ii. i. 25 Oh my Stars! This I foresaw, and fear'd.
1741 E. F. Haywood Anti-Pamela 9 This they call a sober regular Life—my Stars! defend me from such formal Ways.
1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxii. 59 My stars, Simmun!.. You frighten me to death!
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers vi. 122 ‘Oh, my stars!’ he exclaimed. ‘What a bobby-dazzler!’
2011 H. Rubenhold Mistress of my Fate 338 My stars, I could scarcely take it all in.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
1615 T. Heywood Foure Prentises sig. E4v By my good starres I'le haue a challenge too, If any in their Campe dares answere me.
1717 J. D. Breval Confederates iii. 34 O my good Stars!—Pray wait a little, Friend.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. vii. ix. 143 ‘Your dog!’ cried Morrice, looking aghast, ‘good stars! I never thought of him!’
1851 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 419/1 My good stars, Doctor, you bewildered me.
c. my stars and garters! and variants. Cf. sense 10b and garter n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
1758 A. Murphy Upholsterer ii. 48 My stars and garters! what a sudden evolution here is in things?
1819 M. Wilmot Let. 24 Oct. (1935) 24 O ye stars and garters how often do I wish for Mary and a green Lawn!!!
1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. x. 213 My stars and garters! what sort of man is this?
1936 Washington Post 18 Jan. 16/1 He has already placed his order for one of those mail order sky skimmers, complete with parachute and retractable life insurance. My stars and garters!
2011 L. A. Meyer Mark of Golden Dragon xxxix. 278 Oh my stars and garters, this is so exciting.
P5. the stars know what (also how, etc.): used to imply something is unknown to the speaker, and probably also to others. Cf. God knows at god n. and int. Phrases 1d(b), Heaven knows at heaven n. Phrases 3d.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [phrase] > expressing lack of knowledge
God wotOE
God or Crist witec1175
Lord knows1614
Heaven knowsa1628
the stars know what (also how, etc.)1760
1760 H. Walpole Let. 24 May in Corr. (1960) XXI. 407 It costs the stars know what!
1862 H. Marryat One Year in Sweden II. xlviii. 170 Cicero, Marguérite d'Ecosse, Aristotle, and the stars know who besides, take part.
1885 J. Ruskin Præterita (1890) II. x. 243 The young Macdonald.., partly I suppose at his mother's instigation, partly, the stars know how, took a true liking to me.
1913 H. C. Barnabee My Wanderings xxiv. 275 The old monastery..built—only the stars know when.
2013 S. Monette & E. Bear in G. Dozois Year's Best Sci. Fiction 539 The idea of being left out here in the dark with the stars knew what made her heart jump like a ship's rat.
P6. a person's star is rising (also on the rise): a person is becoming more successful or popular.
ΚΠ
1813 Liverpool Mercury 10 Dec. 185/3 I have..publicly qualified Bonaparte, at the time when his star was rising to its ascendant.
1882 Literary World 14 Jan. 8/1 Mr. Browning's star is certainly rising. The second series of his Dramatic Idyls is already out of print.
1941 L. Fischer Men & Politics ii. xii. 227 Litvinov's star was rising. Soviet diplomacy played an increasingly glorious role in world affairs.
1969 Times 13 Oct. 1/4 Miss Lestor's star is rising in Labour politics: she is now securely placed on the national executive committee.
2006 G. Corera Shopping for Bombs i. ii. 41 Thanks to his own salesmanship and bureaucratic skill, Khan's star was on the rise.
P7. to have stars in one's eyes and variants.
a. to have a subjective sensation of flashes of light, esp. as a result of a blow to the head; = to see stars at Phrases 3.
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1859 Fraser's Mag. Feb. 167/1 Crack—quantities of stars in my eyes—I found I had run foul of an overhanging tree.
1878 P. Gillmore Great Thirst Land xx. 228 It..knocked my horse's fore-legs from under him, and gave me as clean a coup as ever man got, or wishes to receive. When I got up I had stars in my eyes.
1902 Temple Bar 1902 164 He deliberately pulled his inner hill-side rein, and then found himself with ringing head, and stars in his eyes, lying on the road.
1959 Mod. Age Spring 135/1 Something hit me from behind, a club or something on my head, spinning me around, stars in my eyes, a sick feeling in my stomach.
2006 York (Pa.) Disp. (Nexis) 1 Aug. Kevin looked like he had stars in his eyes. Anytime someone goes straight down like Kevin did, you know he's hurt.
b. figurative. To be enraptured by (the prospect of) romance, happiness, etc.; to be naively optimistic about something, esp. one's future. Cf. earlier starry-eyed adj. 3b.
ΚΠ
1924 Washington Post 31 Aug. (Mag.) 2/6 Down in the steerage men and women are going home on missions of love... Swarthy young Greeks with stars in their eyes hurrying home to claim brides.
1953 C. Beaton Diary Sept. in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xviii. 274 Anne had stars in her eyes until the last guest stumbled out after dawn.
1993 Economist 7 Aug. 16/2 It would be a European Community that no longer had stars in its eyes; one that had come down to earth not out of failure, but because on earth is the best place to be.
1999 Pract. Family Hist. Oct. 1/2 Many people take to the ancestor trail with stars in their eyes, only to become very disappointed.
2011 New Yorker 29 Aug. 66/3 He's a dreamer. He has stars in his eyes. My big brother gave him shit about it, told him he was delusional.
P8. to reach (also aim) for the stars: to have lofty ambitions; to aim high.
ΚΠ
1819 A. Reed No Fiction I. iv. 48 ‘He who aims at the stars will certainly shoot farther than he who aims at the pebbles beneath his feet’; and our young friends, if they did not reach all they designed, yet made rapid and important attainments.]
1878 National Q. Rev. July 164 Art remained at all times a child, with the child's vague dreams of grandeur and impotent reaching for the stars.
1937 Scotsman 28 July 12/5 Mr Gladstone..counselled his youthful listeners to aim for the stars through life.
1995 Menz Mar. 45 (heading) Daniel Baldwin cops an attitude, but aims for the stars.
2014 Day (New London, Connecticut) (Nexis) 10 Dec. Many a child has been told by a parent or teacher to ‘follow their dreams’ or ‘reach for the stars’.
P9. colloquial (chiefly British) you're a star and variants: (used to praise someone's efforts, especially by way of thanks) ‘you're wonderful’, ‘you're the best’.
ΚΠ
1972 Reno (Nevada) Evening Gaz. 4 May 29/5 Thank you for the special gift that we now enjoy. In other words—you're a star, thanks for the car.
1997 Daily Mail (Nexis) 3 May 6 Tory staff cheered and cried—and one shouted ‘John Major, you're a star.’
2004 S. Kinsella Shopaholic & Sister (2005) 72 ‘Lulu, you're a total star,’ says Suze, subsiding in relief. ‘I don't know what I'd do without you.’
2005 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 30 May 18 Thank you, Steven. You're a real star.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive and appositive.
(a) (In sense 1a.)Recorded earliest in starlight n.
ΚΠ
a1333 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 15 (MED) Þe kynges..foleweden þe sterre, And sothfast lyȝth wyth sterre-lyth souhten vrom so verre.
1591 (?a1425) Shepherds (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 145 (MED) Nowe wend we forth to Bethlem..for to see the starre-gleme, the fruyt alsoe of that mayden free.
1600 C. Tourneur Transformed Metamorph. sig. D7 Heau'ns star-embroderie doth shine full bright.
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) ii. iv. 463 The Baldricks bounds..Which grav'n with Star-Beasts over-thwarts the Hall.
1821 P. B. Shelley Epipsychidion 27 With Moon-light patches, or star atoms keen.
1840 J. F. W. Herschel in Philos. Mag. 17 312 I was..surprised..to find in my star-lists..αOrionis..marked as variable.
1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 85 The bright star-group of Cassiopeia.
1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation viii. 127 The measurement of the displacement of the star-image on the photographic plate.
1954 J. R. R. Tolkien Fellowship of Ring ii. ix. 402 In the star-glimmer they must have offered their cunning foes some mark.
2010 D. A. Rothery Planets: Very Short Introd. i. 18 It now seems clear that planets are a usual by-product of star formation.
(b) (In sense 4.)
ΚΠ
1831 Age 29 May 174/1 They will not allow the jealousy of a ‘star’ actor or pet actress to refuse a character which suits them.
1864 Reader 19 Nov. 650/3 Mdlle. Nillson, the new star-soprano at this theatre.
1876 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Tom Sawyer iv. 50 He had been around among the star pupils inquiring.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill viii It's a star-performance, I tell you.
1920 High School Life Dec. 176/1 We have a star team this season.
1947 Billboard 17 May 20/4 Safe bets are that Eddie Howard and Ray McKinley will stay with the house. Howard is its star attraction.
1982 London Rev. Bks. 4 xxiv. 20/2 Star quality, however, was not at all what was looked for in those who played opposite a superstar like Kean.
1988 Which? Tax-saving Guide 5/1 Star benefits are a company car or a cheap mortgage.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 July 5/1 All songs serve a dramatic purpose..and there really are no star roles.
b. Objective and locative. With participles, as star-bearing, star-wearing, adjs., etc.; with agent or verbal nouns, as star-counting, star-watcher, etc.
ΚΠ
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 177 Epicurii : up on þæm rodore þara steorsceawera.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads iv. 54 Heauens starre-bearing hill [Gk. οὐρανῷ ἀστερόεντι].
1649 J. Ogilby tr. Virgil Æneis (1684) iv. 204 My Reputation and Star-climbing Fame [L. qua sola sidera adibam, fama].
1743 R. Blair Grave 17 The Star-surveying Sage.
1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Prometheus Chain'd in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 44 Passing those star-aspiring heights.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings I. iv. 30 Half-a-dozen star-wearing dukes, counts, and marquises.
1849 Athenæum 30 June 677/2 Mr. Lumley, resolute in star-chasing, has absolutely succeeded in luring Madame Rossi back.
1869 E. Dunkin Midnight Sky 5 The star-watcher at an Australian midnight.
1877 J. S. Blackie Wise Men Greece 351 The arts of field-measuring and star-measuring.
1904 Edinb. Rev. July 78 The pastoral star-watchers of Babylonian plains.
1972 A. Helm tr. G. D. Roth Amateur Astronomer & his Telescope i. 22 A pair of binoculars can be used successfully for certain aspects of stellar astronomy, such as star-counting.
2015 Space Daily (Nexis) 1 Mar. Herschel was able to look at the far-infrared light of distant star-forming regions unfiltered by Earth's atmosphere.
c. Instrumental and locative with past participial adjectives, as star-born, star-guided, star-led, star-strewn, star-packed, etc.
ΚΠ
?1594 M. Drayton Peirs Gaueston sig. G4v Od hap, good luck, or star-bred destinie.
1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 11 v Her star-bestuded crowne.
1616 W. Drummond Poems (rev. ed.) sig. P1 Night, to this flowrie Globe Ne're show for mee thy starre-embrodred Robe.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn iv, in Poems 2 The Star-led Wisards.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 976 In progress through the rode of Heav'n Star -pav'd. View more context for this quotation
1736 J. Thomson Britain: 4th Pt. Liberty 424 With star-directed prow, To dare the middle deep.
1786 T. Dwight in Amer. Poems (1793) I. 39 Let every sage and seer, Dreamer of dreams, and star-taught prophet hear!
1830 Ld. Tennyson Sleeping Beauty ii, in Poems 144 The silk starbraided coverlid.
1897 Atlantic Monthly Jan. 35 When he [sc. Emerson] came to put together his star-born ideas, they fitted well.
1920 J. Gregory Man to Man xxiv. 284 The field of star-strewn sky.
1962 Daily Tel. 28 Apr. 20 (heading) U.S. seeking ‘star-guided’ missile for NATO.
2014 Cranbourne (Austral.) Leader (Nexis) 5 Nov. 28 He steered a star-packed team to grand final victory.
d. Similative and parasynthetic, as star-distant, star-eyed, star-leaved, star-mouthed, star-shaped, etc., adjs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [adjective] > star-shaped
starlike1578
star fashion1597
starry1597
star-shaped1646
asteristic1652
stellaceous1657
stellate1661
stellated1661
stellar1670
astral1672
stelliform1794
stellular1796
asteroid1854
1646 H. More Democritus Platonissans 25 Fair comely bodies..Ruby-lip'd, pearl-ted, star eyn'd.
?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii IX. Table 82 Star-flowred Globe Cats-foot.
1812 S. Edwards New Bot. Garden I. 24 Adorned with many star-shaped flowers.
1836 M. J. Berkeley in J. E. Smith Eng. Flora V. ii. 246 S[phæria] stelluláta, Fr. (star-mouthed Sphæria [i.e. a fungus]).
1854 A. Adams et al. Man. Nat. Hist. 350 Star-mouthed Worms (Strongylidæ).
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud iii, in Maud & Other Poems 12 Passionless, pale, cold face, star-sweet on a gloom profound.
1859 Ld. Lytton Wanderer (ed. 2) 285 At dawn star-distant thou wilt be.
1884 C. S. Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. 86 Liquidambar Styraciflua..Star-leaved Gum.
1900 W. B. Yeats Shadowy Waters 9 More shining winds, more star-glimmering ponds?
1911 A. B. Comstock Handbk. Nature-study iii. ii. 632 If the sunflower has been open for several days, next to the ray-flowers will be seen a circle of star-mouthed corollas from which both ripened pollen and stigmas have disappeared.
1943 S. Spender Spiritual Exercises 6 Outside, the eternal star-tall mountains gleam.
2011 M. Johnston Whispering Death xv. 248 Bullets punched star-shaped holes in the instrument panel.
C2.
a. With reference to knowledge of astrology or astronomy, as starcraft, star lore, etc.; star-read, star-skilled, etc., adjs. [Compare Middle High German sternkunst astrology.]
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun] > first timer
starOE
fresh fish1623
star1903
stooge1930
OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 486 Astrologiam : steorwigl, cursum astrorum.
c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) 1318 Þe mon mot beo wel storre wis [a1300 Jesus Oxf. sturre wis].
1573 R. Lever Arte of Reason i. i. 6 The arte of measuring, witcrafte, speachcraft, starre-craft, &c.
1602 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xiii. lxxvii. 319 Obseruing which of Images, he hous'd himselfe them in, And, star-skil'd, opportunely there did Oracles begin.
1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xviii. viii. 667 That star-skil that Abraham taught the Phænicians.
1764 ‘C. Morell’ Tales Genii I. vi. 221 The Star-read Philosopher Nezraken.
1832 S. L. Fairfield Last Night of Pompeii 6 Star-skilled eyes Of the Captivity's prophetic eld.
1871 E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture II. 402 Our astronomers may only find in the starcraft of the lower races an uninstructive combination of myth and common-place.
1961 Bakersfield Californian 22 Mar. 31/4 The only time I got to practice my woodsmanship (and star knowledge) was at summer camp.
2008 Santa Fe New Mexican (Nexis) 19 June d1 I shared a bit of star lore to explain why Scorpius and Orion are never seen in the sky at the same time.
b. In designations (sometimes humorous or derogatory) of an astrologer or astronomer, as star-catcher, star-clerk, star man, star-master, starmonger, star-peeper, etc. See also star-shooter n. at Compounds 5, star finder n. (a) at Compounds 5.Particularly common in 17th cent. [Compare e.g. Middle Low German stērnkīker, lit. ‘star-looker’, Middle High German sternbiduiter, lit. ‘star-interpreter’, sternpfaffe, lit. ‘star cleric’, sternseher, lit. ‘star-seer’, all in sense ‘astrologer’.]
ΚΠ
OE Latin-Old Eng. Gloss. (Domitian A.i) in A. S. Napier Old Eng. Glosses (1900) 220/2 Mathematici, steorwigleras.
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre xv, in Posies sig. Hiiv If Mars mooue warre, as Starcoonners can tel.
1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. H7v As these foolish starre tooters promised.
1600 B. Jonson Every Man out of his Humor iii. ii. sig. Kv These star-monger knaues, who would trust 'hem? View more context for this quotation
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iii. 91 If at the least Star-Clarkes be credit-worth.
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 24 Hearing a Starre-catcher make a long..discourse about the Celestiall Signes.
1654 T. Gataker Disc. Apol. 4 So would I fain know of this great Star-master, how it comes to pass, that [etc.].
1678 Quacks Acad. 6 You must either pretend to be Waterologers, or Ass-trologers, or Piss-prophets, or Starr-Wizards.
a1714 B. Tompson Poems (1980) 133 This prodigious stroke of Cruell fate..proves Star-prophets sometimes in the darke.
1756 B. Bright's New Jrnl. 6 We have..introduced important Matters, overlooked by former Starmongers.
1836 R. Furness Astrologer ii, in Wks. (1858) 149 Which brought the star-man to the realms below.
1877 C. W. Shields Final Philos. iii. 110 Luther..denounced the star-peepers and horoscope mongers who plead Scripture authority for their haphazard work and idolatry.
1904 S. Dill Rom. Society iv. i. 447 Augustus himself received a similar forecast from Theagenes, a star-reader of Apollonia.
1963 J. Needham in A. C. Crombie Sci. Change v. 146 Nothing from Greece, only the nova, comet and meteor lists of China's star-clerks.
2011 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 15 Jan. a11 Monty Taylor, a veteran star man from Manhattan, said he and other astrologers were e-mailing.
c. Designating material of which stars are formed or consist, or which was once part of a star; frequently in star stuff.In early use chiefly with reference to the nebular hypothesis of the formation of star systems (in quot. 1885 figurative).
ΚΠ
1857 T. D. Simonton tr. J. H. Kurtz Bible & Astron. v. 395 W. Herschel was..led back to a view..that the unresolved part of the nebula consisted not so much of thickly-crowded stars, as of star-material [Ger. Sternmaterie], cosmical matter.
1885 W. Pater Marius the Epicurean (1910) I. v. 61 Apuleius had gathered into it the floating star-matter of many a delightful story.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ in St. Nicholas Feb. 356 Look what billions and billions of stars there is. How does it come that there was just exactly enough star-stuff?
1905 A. M. Clerke Mod. Cosmogonies 54 If space contained only full-grown stars and no stars in the making—no star-spawn, no star-protoplasm.
1973 C. Sagan Cosmic Connection (1975) vii. 51 There is a place with four suns in the sky..; two of them are so close together that they touch, and star-stuff flows between them.
1993 Discover Feb. 12/1 As collapsing star matter continues to slam into this incomprehensible nugget, it generates a shock wave that rebounds back through the star's outer layers.
2002 Science 22 Nov. 1544/2 We are all made of starstuff. The big bang created hydrogen..and other light atoms. But everything else..was made by stars.
C3.
a. attributive, with the sense ‘shaped like or arranged in the form of a conventional image of a star’ (cf. sense 10a).
ΚΠ
1590 Acct.-bk. of William Wray in Antiquary (1896) 32 374 ii dosse' great stare buttons.
1613 in Mem. G. Heriot (1822) App. vii. 220 A starre pendant set with diamonds.
1701 A. Boyer Draughts Fortified Towns 7/1 Upon these Lines..are to be placed, redoubts, long squares with tenailles, triangles..star-works, field-skonces [etc.].
1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals I. 448 This was on a little rising Ground, planted with a Star-Grove, through the Avenues of which they could see all round them without being discerned themselves.
1812 Sporting Mag. 39 168 A cocked hat with a star-loop.
1895 E. Rowe Hints on Chip-carving 69 A small star punch was used instead of the single-pointed one.
1933 San Mateo (Calif.) Times 10 Mar. 3/1 The jewelry included a star brooch set with 55 diamonds.
2014 Prima (Nexis) Dec. (Suppl.) 27 Using star cutters, cut out biscuits and place on baking trays.
b. attributive. Designating a marking or design in the form of a star or stars; (also) designating an object bearing such a marking or design.
ΚΠ
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iii. §i. iii. 281 A Piece of Fungites with Great Star-Work.
1685 A. Cook Titus Britannicus 102 The King's Standard, Coach and Horses, a Collar of SS's and Star-Cloth.
1774 J. Cox Descriptive Inventory 27 Upon the part wherein the star work is contained, at right angles, stand four small Elephants.
1808 J. Austen Let. 1 Oct. (1995) 141 She does not doubt your making out the Star pattern very well, as you have the Breakfast-room-rug to look at.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 460 Star Braid, a kind of Braid..made in blue and red, and having a white star.
1938 Amer. Home Oct. 74/3 Sheer white material for glass curtains is interesting for its star pattern.
1983 ‘Lame Deer’ in P. Albers & B. Medicine Hidden Half vi. 129 We make do with a large star blanket, a quilt with many colored pieces of cloth forming the design of the morning star.
2003 Cakes & Sugarcraft Winter 52/1 Crimp the base and top edge with a scallop crimper. Emboss a tiny star pattern between each scallop.
C4.
a. attributive, with the sense ‘marked, distinguished, or graded by a star or stars’. Cf. sense 9.
ΚΠ
1788 T. Keith Compl. Pract. Arithmetician i. 25 Multiply the Term, or Terms, at that End of the Cross line, where the Star-Term is found, into the Term, or Terms, at the other End of that Line.
1814 Hist. Univ. Oxf. II. 259 This is the dress of business; it is used..in the morning at church, excepting star days.
1890 C. L. Norton Polit. Americanisms 108 Star Routes..are post-office routes which are not self-supporting, and are designated by asterisks in the ‘Postal Guide’.
1963 Jrnl. Soc. Industr. & Appl. Math. 11 221 We proceed now to study the star formula F*.
2015 A. Ferus-Comelo in D. Jordhus-Lier & A. Underthun Hospitable World? iv. 75 Workers..are provided accommodation close to the star hotels where they work.
b. attributive. In the United Kingdom, and some former British colonies: designating a prisoner or class of prisoners serving a first sentence, (formerly) distinguished by a badge bearing a star.
ΚΠ
1882 Daily News 6 Feb. 3/5 The new category to be distinguished by the title of ‘Star-class Prisoners’.
1903 Ld. W. B. Nevill Penal Servitude vi. 66 There were only five parties in which ‘star’ men were allowed to work.
1950 Manch. Guardian 28 June 10/4 Northern police forces were last night searching for three ‘star’ prisoners—men serving their first sentences—who early in the morning broke out of Durham prison.
2006 M. P. Roth Prisons & Prison Syst. 26 Prisoners [in Bangladesh]..are further divided into ‘star class’, or first-time offenders, and ‘ordinary class’.
C5. † star-blasting n. Obsolete malign astrological influence; cf. starring n. 1.† star-cross adj. Obsolete = star-crossed adj.† star fashion adv. and adj. Obsolete (a) adv. in the shape of a star; (b) adj. star-shaped.† star-flint n. Obsolete silicified coral, spec. that which is found in Wiltshire in southern England; cf. star stone n. 2.† star-queen n. poetic Obsolete rare the moon.† star-real n. [apparently an alteration of star rial n., after real n.3] Obsolete rare = spur-royal n.; cf. star rial n.† star rial n. [ < star n.1 + rial n.1, so called with reference to the sun with rays depicted on the reverse] Obsolete rare = spur-royal n.; cf. star-real n., spur rial n.† star-sconce n. Obsolete = star fort n.; cf. sconce n.3 1a.† star-shooter n. Obsolete rare a person who measures the altitude of stars.† star-staring adj. Obsolete = stargazing adj.† star-stroke n. Obsolete = sunstroke n.
star-back n. slang (now rare) an expensive, reserved seat at a circus, typically a folding chair.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun] > seat for spectator
pulvinar1600
star-back1931
1931 Amer. Mercury Nov. 354/1 Starbacks, the reserved seat section.
1933 E. Seago Circus Company iii. 23 He sat with me in the ‘star backs’.
1958 Billboard 12 May 60/1 Seats are mostly star-backs on the front side.
starbase n. Science Fiction an outpost in space or on another planet; a space station.Originally and frequently in the name of such a base.
ΚΠ
1944 R. M. Williams in Amazing Stories Sept. 32/1 Star Base X!.. Just as Base X, in Labrador, served the needs of the plane communication between the United States and England, this Ahrned base aided them in their communication between the stars.
1968 S. E. Whitfield in S. E. Whitfield & G. Roddenberry Making of ‘Star Trek’ ii. iii. 204 There are seventeen star bases scattered across the small known portion of the galaxy.
1985 B. Hambly Ishmael vii. 102 That hellish journey from Starbase Twelve to Alpha Eridani III.
2012 Waikoto Times (Hamilton, N.Z.) (Nexis) 7 June 15 Build a space station resembling one of Star Trek's starbases, like Deep Space Nine.
star bill n. a poster advertising a theatrical star.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publishing or spreading by leaflets or notices > [noun] > placarding, postering, or billing > a placard, notice, or bill > types of
window bill?1790
showcard1826
officiality1843
window card1846
star bill1876
one-sheet1895
stickyback1903
hanger1905
wanted poster1925
dazibao1960
wall-poster1962
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > advertising bill > types of
text-bill1610
benefit-bill1755
star bill1876
gag-bill1885
1876 Western Mail (Cardiff) 18 Dec. 4/1 Entire Change of Programme! New Engagements!! Powerful Double Company!!! (For full particulars see Star Bills.).
1959 E. Dudley Confess to Dr. Morelle (2015) xiv. 98 The one [sc. theatre] so big, imposing with pillars and grand entrance and star bills.
2009 I. Vasic Immigration Handbk. i. iv. 40/2 Playbills and star bills (printed for a particular show).
star billing n. = top billing at billing n.3 b; also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > [noun]
hereworda1100
famec1290
lose1297
renownc1330
namecouthhead1340
noblessec1350
namec1384
reputationc1390
emprisea1393
renomeea1393
celebrity?c1400
enpressc1400
notec1400
renowneec1430
flavourc1449
honestnessa1450
bruita1470
renome?1473
famosity1535
famousness1548
renownedness1596
celebration1631
rumour1638
notedness1661
noise1670
distinction1699
eminence1702
éclat1742
baya1764
kudos1831
lionhood1833
lionism1835
lionship1837
lionization1841
stardom1865
spotlight1875
réclame1883
stellardom1883
the big cheesea1910
big time1910
star billing1910
starring1913
megastardom1981
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > bill of items > chief place on
top line1906
star billing1910
festival headliner1927
top billing1968
1910 Muscatine (Iowa) Jrnl. 9 Dec. 2/4 Harvel and his marionettes are given the star billing, yet there are other numbers that are equally as good.
1967 Amer. Notes & Queries June 156/1 Behind Spanish American Footlights is the key reference tool in its field, and as such rates star billing.
1991 Maui (Hawaii) News 25 Feb. b10/2 Despite Harmon's star billing, this actually is an ensemble piece, one that doesn't emphasize the ‘name’ actor.
2013 Essex Chron. (Nexis) 25 Apr. (Sport section) 80 It was Phil Arnold who took star billing in the third team's 148-run win over East Hanningfield.
starbirth n. the formation of a star or stars, thought to occur through the gravitational contraction of a cloud of gas and dust into a dense body in the interior of which sustained nuclear fusion takes place.
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1906 Monist 16 315 The nebulous stars are the final stage of star birth, in which a trace of the nebula remains, the condensation not being quite complete.
1958 Science 22 Aug. 398/2 The rate of star births must have been greater in the early history of the galaxy than it is today.
1991 C. A. Ronan Nat. Hist. Universe 44/2 The joint European and United States Infrared Astronomy Satellite, IRAS,..had many triumphs, discovering places where starbirth is proceeding in our galaxy.
2002 M. Zeilik Astronomy (ed. 9) xiv. 329/1 The process of starbirth is hidden from our direct view, but we can infer it by infrared and radio observations.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [noun] > misfortune or ill-luck > causing or bringing misfortune
infortuningc1400
star-blasting1583
starring1583
1583 J. Stockwood tr. J. von Ewich Duetie Magistrate in Time of Plague Pref. ⁂4v That starring whiche the Greekes call Astrobolismos, or starre blasting [L. quam Graeci ἀσροβολισμὸν [sic] vocant].
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xi. 52 Blesse thee from whirle-winds, starre-blusting, and taking. View more context for this quotation
1800 C. Lamb Let. 9 Aug. in Lett. C. & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 221 Heaven keep the new born Infant from star blasting and moon blasting.
1882 Women's Union Jrnl. Sept. 73/1 Holy God, that rules By land, and by sea..From storm and lightning, and star-blasting, Save by sea and land!
star boarder n. U.S. (now chiefly historical) a boarder in lodgings, typically of long standing, having or regarded as having special privileges; also in extended use, frequently slang (see quots. 1908, 19351, 19352).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > temporary inhabitant > [noun] > in another's house > lodger
boarder1530
inmake1536
inmate1589
quarterer1595
commoner1598
tabler1598
by-settel1612
lodgera1616
inquilinea1641
pensioner1673
pensionnairea1794
Artful Dodger1839
paying guest1853
roomer1859
star boarder1875
pension-boarder1898
latchkey1905
PG1925
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > types of marriage custom or practice > [noun] > cohabitation > one who
star boarder1875
tallyman1876
tallywoman1890
bide-in1916
bidie-in1916
cohabiter1942
shack-job1946
cohabitee1955
shack-up1969
live-in1977
1875 Indianapolis Jrnl. 26 Apr. 8/2 This was too much for long suffering good nature, and the amateur landlord asked his star boarder where he came from?
1908 J. M. Sullivan Criminal Slang 24 Star boarder or lodger, a boarder..in good financial standing who has all the privileges of a husband.
1922 B. Tarkington Gentle Julia 113 The pill-boxes [for insects]..evidently contained star boarders, for they were pierced with ‘breathing holes’.
1935 J. Hargan Gloss. Prison Lang. 8 Star-boarder, a lifer.
1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 113/2 Star boarder, the inmate of a house of prostitution, who earns the most money.
1976 ‘O. Bleeck’ No Questions Asked xii. 137 He lived here and we split expenses... He was sort of a star boarder.
2011 Times & Transcript (New Brunswick) (Nexis) 3 May d4 ‘My mother used to call me the star boarder,’ she laughs. ‘I'd go out and play, come in and get my meals, and then go again.’
star catalogue n. an organized and comprehensive list of stars, with their position, magnitude, and other details; cf. catalogue n. 2.
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the world > the universe > star > [noun] > list of
star catalogue1830
1830 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. Feb. 29/1 A lively people..can at least use star-catalogues, and some planisphere thereof.
1948 Science 9 Jan. 37/1 The University of Cincinnati Observatory has published a 56-page star catalogue which lists 2,300 stars and supplements the first catalogue put out by the Observatory 25 years ago.
2015 J. L. Cranford Astrobiol. Neurosystems i. 11 When they label a single star they typically tell us which star catalog it is listed in (e.g., the Gliese catalog) and give it a number, e.g., Gliese 667.
star chart n. (a) a chart or map which shows the positions of the stars in a region of the sky; (b) Astrology an astrological chart; a horoscope.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > representational device > [noun] > map of heavens > stars
astroscope1675
star map1839
star chart1840
sky map1874
1840 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 39 330 To make this determination with much precision, the track of each meteor must be noted on a star-chart.
1930 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us (ed. 2) i. 19 Galle..was able to identify the planet at once, Berlin possessing better star-charts of the region of the sky in question than were accessible at Cambridge.
1936 Chicago Defender 3 Oct. 4/6 (advt.) Astrological reading based upon your Zodiac Sun Sign... Star chart of Favorable and Unfavorable Days included free.
2001 P. Moore 2002 Yearbk. Astron. i. 13 For the star charts in this volume, we have preferred to give two hemispherical maps for each month of the year, one showing the northern aspect of the sky and the other showing the southern aspect.
2007 J. Sensel Reality Leak 72 My aunt, who's into astrology, checked my star charts for my entire life.
star clock n. a clock or other device which indicates the time of night by reference to the positions of the stars in the sky.See note at sidereal day n. at sidereal adj. Compounds.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > other types of clock
watch-clock1592
German clock1598
quarter clocka1631
wheel-clock1671
table clocka1684
month clock1712
astronomical clock1719
musical clock1721
repeater1725
Tompion1727
pulling clock1733
regulator1735
eight-day clock1741
regulator clock1750
French clock1757
repetition clock1765
day clock1766
striker1778
chiming clock1789
cuckoo-clock1789
night clock1823
telltale1827
carriage clock1828
fly-clock1830
steeple clock1830
telltale clock1832
skeleton clock1842
telegraph clock1842
star clock1850
weight-clock1850
prison clock1853
crystal clock1854
pillar scroll top clock1860
sheep's-head clock1872
presentation clock1875
pillar clock1880
stop-clock1881
Waterbury1882
calendar-clock1884
ting-tang clock1884
birdcage clock1886
sheep's head1887
perpetual calendar1892
bracket clock1894
Act of Parliament clock1899
cartel clock1899
banjo-clock1903
master clock1904
lantern clock1913
time clock1919
evolutionary clock1922
lancet clock1922
atomic clock1927
quartz clock1934
clock radio1946
real-time clock1953
organ clock1956
molecular clock1974
travelling clock2014
1850 Househ. Words 25 May 202/2 Beside him is one of the star-clocks, and as the moment approaches for the appearance of the planet, the excitement of the moment increases.
1877 T. H. Huxley Physiogr. xx. 341 86,164 seconds (or 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds) would be a day by the ‘star-clock’.
1922 Jrnl. Egyptian Archaeol. 8 279 There are star-clocks for determining the hours of the night by means of a star table and two observers, used probably in conjunction with the water-clock.
1949 Geogr. Jrnl. 113 59 A star clock gets 4 minutes slow every day on sun time, so it has to be advanced an hour every fifteen days.
2008 A. Buchan Pencil, Paper & Stars x. 84 A nocturnal is a star clock... Using one involved sighting Polaris through a hole in the rivet or bolt holding the components together.
star cloud n. an assemblage of many stars in (real or apparent) proximity; a large star cluster.
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the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [noun]
cluster1728
star cluster1829
stardust1836
star cloud1839
moving cluster1908
supercluster1924
the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [noun] > nebula
nebulous star1675
nebula1718
nebulose1719
nebule1830
star cloud1839
1839 Western Messenger Mar. 327 A time comes at last in Eternity, in which all milky-ways, all white nebulæ and star-clouds shall grow dark in tumult.
1899 C. F. d'Arcy Idealism & Theol. i. 50 From star-cloud to civilisation, all is the result of slow development.
1924 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 59 217 Fainter stars of division A reveal through their distribution the relative nearness of the star clouds in Cygnus.
2004 C. Crossen & G. Rhemann Sky Vistas iii. 137/1 The Great Sagittarius Star Cloud, north of Gamma (γ) and Delta (δ) Sagittarii, is the brightest of all the Milky Way star clouds.
star cluster n. a number of stars closely grouped together; cf. cluster n. 3c.
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the world > the universe > constellation > star-cluster > [noun]
cluster1728
star cluster1829
stardust1836
star cloud1839
moving cluster1908
supercluster1924
1829 S. E. Hatfield Moments Loneliness 116 I can only, then, be bright, In thy pure lustre; Oh then restore thy light, Like a star-cluster!
1869 Nature 23 Dec. 216/2 Excellent telescopic views of the star-cluster in Perseus.
1930 R. H. Baker Astron. xi. 465 Frequently a ‘nebula’ turned out to be a star-cluster, thereby encouraging the opinion, in former times, that all nebulae are really clusters of stars.
2003 New Scientist 1 Feb. 43/3 In the Andes potato farmers say that the clarity of the Pleiades star cluster in June predicts the timing of the rainy season.
star-connected adj. Electrical Engineering designating each of (typically) three electrical windings or other impedances connected to a common node, rather than in series; (of a motor, transformer, etc.) employing windings connected in this way; cf. delta-connected at delta n. Compounds 2.See note at sense 19.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [adjective] > with star-connection
star-connected1893
wye1916
1893 J. T. Morrow & T. Reid Arithm. Magnetism & Electr. vii. 106 A 10 pole, 3 phase, star connected, generator has 540 face wires.
1917 Electr. World 15 Dec. 1151/2 While working in a power plant..the writer had to reconnect a three-phase, four-pole, series star-connected motor so it would operate at a different voltage.
1976 F. de la C. Chard Electr. Supply v. 145 A star-connected winding has only 1/√3 times the line voltage across each phase but carries the full line current.
2007 J. Arrillaga et al. Flexible Power Transmission iii. 78 The converter transformer is star connected on the converter side and must have either a delta primary or delta tertiary winding.
star connection n. Electrical Engineering a method of connecting (typically) three electrical windings or other impedances so that one end of each is connected to a common node; (also) an instance of this; cf. delta connection n. at delta n. Compounds 2.See note at sense 19.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [noun] > induction motor > connection to common point
star connection1894
zigzag connection1922
1894 G. Kapp Electric Transmission of Energy (ed. 4) xii. 418 The armature is drum wound with star connection.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 592/1 With the above star connexion the voltage between the outer pair of wires a and c is √2.
1969 Power Syst. Protection (Electr. Council) II. xi. 404 Two methods [of connecting tie-bar busbar reactors] are commonly adopted and may be classified as (i) the star connection.., and (ii) the ring connection.
2010 Internat. Jrnl. Electr. Power & Energy Syst. 32 239/1 Power transformers have a delta connection in the high voltage winding and a star connection in the low voltage winding.
star count n. Astronomy a statistical survey of the stars in a particular region of the sky, typically to ascertain the numerical distribution in the galaxy of stars of particular magnitudes, types, etc.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical calculation > [noun] > stars
star gauge1784
star-gauging1845
star count1889
1889 Nature 8 Aug. 345/1 For simple star-counts, we have only to substitute star-counts by magnitudes over selected areas of the sky.
1947 Astrophysical Jrnl. 105 257 Stoddard has made star counts according to photographic and photovisual magnitudes for four large globules.
2001 F. Watson in P. Moore 2002 Yearbk. Astron. ii. 235 If you were to be confronted with a photograph from the UKST [= UK Schmidt Telescope] and told to do star-counts on it, you would find it a daunting prospect.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [adjective] > suffering misfortune > stricken by misfortune
star-crossed1597
star-cross1608
planet-struck1609
planet-stricken1615
sparrow-blasteda1652
hard-hit1826
1608 T. Middleton Familie of Love (new ed.) iv. sig. G Since these proiects haue had so star crosse euents.
1665 J. Phillips tr. P. Scarron Typhon ii. 41 From thence we must derive the date Of Star-cross Tytan's rigid fate.
star-crossed adj. thwarted by bad luck or adverse circumstances (originally considered to be a result of malign planetary influence); now chiefly in star-crossed lovers.In later use chiefly in echoes of quot. 1597.
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the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [adjective] > suffering misfortune > stricken by misfortune
star-crossed1597
star-cross1608
planet-struck1609
planet-stricken1615
sparrow-blasteda1652
hard-hit1826
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet Prol. 6 A paire of starre-crost Louers tooke their life. View more context for this quotation
1608 G. Markham & L. Machin Dumbe Knight iv. sig. H2 I was..starre crost with some hagges hellishnesse.
1826 P. G. Patmore Rejected Articles 337 Let it suffice that they did become lovers—no ‘star-crossed’ pair more true.
1875 A. C. Swinburne Ess. & Stud. 294 His ultimate dismissal of the star-crossed pretender is ‘perfect Stuart’ in its bland abnegation of faith.
1973 Alberta Hist. Rev. Winter 12/1 But if Uncle Charlie's first motivation was star-crossed love, his second was certainly horses.
2014 South Wales Echo (Nexis) 21 July 26 They are the star-crossed lovers who were almost kept apart by red tape.
star-delta n. Electrical Engineering attributive designating a three-phase system in which the electrical windings are switched between star connection and delta connection (delta connection n. at delta n. Compounds 2); relating to or employing such a system.In a star-delta induction motor the stator windings are connected in star for starting and are reconnected in delta for continuous running.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [adjective] > with star-connection > starting
star-delta1904
1904 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 1903 22 1264 Under certain conditions, however, the star and star-delta systems will give satisfactory service.
1962 Newnes Conc. Encycl. Electr. Engin. 517/1 Star-delta starting is one method of reducing starting current of 3-phase motors.
1976 F. de la C. Chard Electr. Supply v. 148 A star-delta connection for a step-down transformer is normally used.
2007 Manufacturer's Monthly (Nexis) Sept. 53 Two new multi-function timing relays, a new asymmetrical recycler, and a star-delta relay.
star dial n. [after sundial n. and moon dial n.] a device for indicating the time at night from the positions of stars relative to the Pole Star; cf. nocturnal n. 1.
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1723 E. Stone tr. N. Bion Constr. & Principal Uses Math. Instruments vi. 253 It will not be difficult to make a Nocturnal or Star-Dial [Fr. un cadran aux Etoiles], in the following manner.
1847 E. A. Poe Ulalume in Amer. Rev. Dec. 599 And now, as the night was senescent And star-dials pointed to morn.
1969 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 79 346 Mr Daniel then showed slides of many forms of dials. He noted, in particular, the vertical south-facing type, often found on church walls; pillar dials... Moondials, star-dials and nocturnals were also described.
2004 Lee Valley Christmas 2004 Gift Catal. (Lee Valley Tools, Canada) 48/1 The star dial is quite accurate for estimating the time at night. Hold the dial at arm's length and sight the North Star through the centre hole, then adjust the indicator arm in line with the two end stars of the Big Dipper.
star drag n. Angling a star-shaped mechanism in a fishing reel, by means of which the tension on the line can be adjusted, typically used in catching large fish; cf. drag n. 7d.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > reel > [noun] > attachments
check1867
free spool1906
star drag1936
pickup1951
1936 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 8 Oct. 36/4 (advt.) Black bakelite end plates; double multiplying; bronze bearings; star drag.
1979 Angling July 33/1 (advt.) Rugged star drag design with white-oak leather washers for smooth line control.
2011 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. (Nexis) 26 Aug. (Sports section) c6 I use a Penn 309 reel with star drag because it's built to hold the heavy lead core line.
star drift n. (a) chiefly poetic a mass of stars; (b) Astronomy proper motion common to a group of stars (cf. star streaming n.); (also) motion of a star across the field of view of a telescope, due to the earth's rotation.
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the world > the universe > star > stellar motion > [noun]
proper motion1561
star drift1829
star stream1844
motus peculiaris1890
star streaming1905
drift1906
1829 Yankee (Boston) 1 Jan. 1/2 The shadowy monsters of the Great Deep dwell, With star-drift—fire—and shapes magnificent.
1870 R. A. Proctor in Proc. Royal Soc. 18 169 When the proper motions are indicated in maps,..the star-drift (as the phenomenon may be termed) becomes very evident.
1908 G. Parker Embers 105 Star-drifts that glimmer Dimmer and dimmer, What do ye know of my weal or my woe?
1915 Science 5 Feb. 197/1 Researches are simultaneously continued on the problems of the star-drift, including the speed and direction of motion of our solar system.
1987 National Newsletter (Royal Astron. Soc. Canada) Aug. 58 Continue making adjustments until no star drift can be seen in declination for several minutes.
1999 K. Kenyon Rift 41 This was the sky as it should look, dark and fractured by star drifts.
2004 tr. W. Greiner Classical Mech. xxviii. 299 The most prominent example for the use of the star drift parallax is the determination of the distances of the Hyades.
star drill n. a drill bit with a tip having a star-shaped cross section, used esp. for cutting into stone.
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1881 Improvem. Delaware & Schuykill Rivers in Ann. Rep Chief of Engineers U.S. Army (47th Congr., House Exec. Doc. 1, Part 2) I. App. F. 754 Star-drills 3 inches in diameter and reducing as drilling progresses have, since the application of the water jet at the foot, been satisfactorily used by the contractors.
1970 D. Z. Meilach Contemp. Stone Sculpt. v. 83 (caption) Use a star drill or carbide-tipped bit in a portable drill.
2014 Chicago Daily Herald (Nexis) 9 Feb. (Real Estate section) 1 Use a cordless drill or preferably a star drill and a hammer just in case water starts gushing out.
stardrive n. Science Fiction a propulsion device for a spacecraft, often enabling it to travel faster than the speed of light.
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1948 P. Anderson in Astounding Sci. Fiction Dec. 25/1 They'll know the principles of the star drive in a few more generations, and invent a faster-than-light engine almost at once!
1987 C. Claremont First Flight xi. 189 Miraculously, the explosion left their stardrive untouched.
2003 K. D. Cacey Godmaker Legacy xii. 171 The strain on the stardrive had caused a fuselage to fuse shut.
star facet n. (in diamond cutting) any of the eight small triangular facets which surround the large, flat upper surface of a brilliant (brilliant n.1 1a).
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > diamond > [noun] > of specific type of cut > parts of cut diamond
collet1675
right1675
culet1678
pavilion1750
rib1750
star facet1750
templet1889
1750 D. Jeffries Treat. Diamonds & Pearls Explan. Terms In Brilliants they [sc. lozenges] are formed by the meeting of the skill and star facets on the bezil.
1823 J. Mawe Treat. Diamonds (rev. ed.) i. 79 The triangles on the bizel, adjacent to the girdle, are called skill facets, and those which join the table, star facets.
1916 G. A. England Pod, Bender & Co viii. 193 There came to view a magnificent bluish-white solitaire. From its star-facets winked and shimmered scores of little spectra.
2001 Evening Post (Nottingham) (Nexis) 6 Jan. (Homes & Gardens section) 8 A rose cut diamond is usually cut with 24 facets, the six star facets which form the crown being surrounded by 18 cross facets.
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the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [adjective] > star-shaped
starlike1578
star fashion1597
starry1597
star-shaped1646
asteristic1652
stellaceous1657
stellate1661
stellated1661
stellar1670
astral1672
stelliform1794
stellular1796
asteroid1854
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 393 Stalkes..whereupon do grow faire yellow flowers, starre fashion.
1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum 132 The flower is purple, starre fashion, and yellow in the middle.
star field n. a region of the sky or space containing stars, esp. one rich in stars; in early use chiefly poetic.In quot. 1991 figurative. [In quot. 1822: a heraldic field (field n.1 17a) decorated with stars.]
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1822 ‘L. Gibbons’ Malpas I. vi. 132 The horse..bore upon his chamfrein (an iron mask which covered his head, ears, and face), the poursuivant's device, in a star field, with a spike projecting from the centre.]
1833 Lady's Bk. (L. A. Godey & Co.) June 297/2 Like some Peri just come From the star fields above.
1870 Pop. Sci. Rev. 9 273 These four or five faint stars may lie farther from us than the farthest belonging to some of the richer star-fields.
1930 Discovery Aug. 252/2 It [sc. Pluto] was identified from its motion past the numerous fixed stars as revealed on plates of the same star field.
1991 P. Marshall Daughters (1992) ii. v. 181 There..stood the huge battleship with all its lights ablaze. A starfield of lights on the sea.
2001 N.Y. Times 13 May i. 35/1 Binoculars are ideal for examining this wide, interesting star field.
star finder n. (a) an expert in astronomy or the stars (Obsolete); (b) = finder n. 3b (an auxiliary telescope); (c) a portable planisphere.
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1848 W. D. Cooley tr. A. Erman Trav. in Siberia II. xviii. 469 The Tunguzes had been only waiting, as they told us, for the arrival of ‘the star finder’.
1854 Edinb. Christian Mag. 5 236/1 Mr. Bishop, in whose observatory in London Mr. Hind, the star-finder, labours, is also engaged in trade.
1862 Intellect. Observer May 323 Star Finder... A small, portable, and elegant instrument, by which celestial objects may be easily found.
1878 (title) The star finder, or planisphere, with a movable horizon.
1969 Jrnl. Brit. Astron. Assoc. 79 p. i/2 (advt.) For many years we have been asked to produce a lightweight Elbow Star Finder.
2001 Times 30 Nov. 24/6 The Starfinder Pack..contains a copy of the annual Night Sky 2002 booklet and a pocket Star finder or planisphere.
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?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii VII.–VIII. Table 68 Wiltshire Star-flint... This Fossil is represented, as cut, polisht, and designed for a Snuff-box.
1883 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. 1881–2 7 140 The President..distributed amongst the Members a number of pieces of Portlandian Coral (Isastrœa oblonga), which is known in this district as ‘star-flint’, being always found in a silicified condition.
1904 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. 1903–4 18 154 The celebrated ‘Star Flint’, silicified coral, has been found north-west of Tisbury, but it does not occur in the Chilmark Quarries.
star fort n. [after French †fort en étoile (see etoile n.)] now historical a fort whose ground plan is in the shape of the figure of a star, the outside edge or rampart having alternate salient and re-entrant angles; cf. etoile n. 2.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > fort according to shape
pentagonon1625
star-sconce1632
octagon1648
pentagon1648
hexagon1669
star fort1669
tetragon1669
star1672
star redoubt1687
trigon1688
1669 W. Aglionby Present State United Provinces 400 On the side of the said King of Spain, shall be demolish'd near the Sluce these following places and Forts, viz. the Fort of St. Job, St. Donas, the Star-Fort.
1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) VI. 117 Fort Lewis..is but a wretched star-fort, incapable of much resistance.
1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 18 Star forts are usually constructed either on a triangle or on a square.
1960 T. Thayer Nathanael Greene 355 The principal works consisted of a star fort at the eastern corner of the town.
2010 R. C. Doyle Enemy in our Hands vi. 126 During the Civil War the Union used the numerous star forts built after the War of 1812 as POW camps for Confederates.
star fracture n. a fracture consisting of cracks radiating from a central point.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > disorders of bones > [noun] > fractures
brucheOE
fissurec1400
fracture?1541
compound fracture1543
fraction1587
attrition1634
effracture1634
flap-fracture1658
complicated fracture1745
abduction1753
star fracture1840
stress fracture1911
1840 J. F. Burgoyne in Papers Duties Corps Royal Engineers IV. v. 62 (table) Tamping remained—rock star-fracture.
1892 Daily News 27 May 3/4 There was a mark on the right temple..and from this point a fracture of the skull started. This ran round to the left side, where there was a star fracture.
1981 Auk 98 648 In many birds with prolonged incubation, the interval between external pipping (star-fracture of the shell) and hatching is also long.
2011 A. Proulx Bird Cloud v. 75 The windshield sported a star fracture.
starfucker n. coarse slang a person who seeks out celebrities with a view to having sex with them.
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1970 J. Grissim Country Mus. 259 In the rock and roll Fifties they were called star-fuckers.
1995 Guardian (Nexis) 17 Nov. 2 He is an obsessive namedropper, a ‘starfucker’.
2004 J. Weiner Little Earthquakes 269 Some groupie, some cheerleader..some starfucker who'd hurried back to her girlfriends in triumph.
star gauge n. (a) (Astronomy, now historical) (W. Herschel's term for) a determination of the number of stars visible in a given region of the sky, by averaging a number of observations; (b) a gauge with radiating steel points for measuring the bore of a gun barrel at any part of its length.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical calculation > [noun] > stars
star gauge1784
star-gauging1845
star count1889
society > armed hostility > military equipment > production and development of arms > [noun] > manufacture of firearms and ammunition > instruments
newel1611
spanner1639
height-board1672
height-rule1692
star gauge1784
spindle1842
gun-pendulum1867
1784 W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 74 445 I call it Gaging the Heavens, or the Star-Gage. It consists in repeatedly taking the number of stars in ten fields of view of my reflector very near each other, and by adding their sums, and cutting off one decimal on the right, a mean of the contents of the heavens, in all the parts which are thus gaged, is obtained.
1847 J. F. W. Herschel Results Astron. Observ. 373 A system of star-gauges was set on foot.
1861 J. G. Benton Course Instr. Ordnance & Gunnery iii. 191 The star-guage [sic] is an instrument for measuring the diameter of the bore at any point.
1985 W. S. Brophy Springfield 1903 Rifles ii. 207/1 The star gauge is used to measure the interior of a gun barrel and does not make an average or poor barrel better.
2010 M. Beech Large Hadron Collider v. 121 The stellar universe that Herschel's star gauges revealed was disk-like in shape.
star-gauging n. Astronomy (now historical) (with reference to W. Herschel) = star gauge n. (a); the process of counting stars in this way.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical calculation > [noun] > stars
star gauge1784
star-gauging1845
star count1889
1845 tr. A. von Humboldt Κοσμος I. 159 William Herschel..discovered, by means of his star-gaugings [Ger. Stern-Aichungen], that the telescopic breadth of the milky way is six or seven degrees greater than it appears upon our maps of the heavens.
1870 R. A. Proctor Other Worlds than Ours Pref. 8 The fact that Sir William Herschel adopted an erroneous hypothesis as the basis of his system of star-gauging.
1924 G. E. Hale Depths of Universe i. 10 Herschel... By his method of star-gauging he endeavoured to determine the structure of the sidereal system.
2004 D. H. Clark & M. D. H. Clark Measuring Cosmos iii. 63 On the basis of star gauging Herschel concluded that the universe was a flattened disk, like a millstone.
star-glint n. †(a) Scottish and Nautical a shooting star; a meteorite (obsolete rare); (b) chiefly poetic (a gleam of) starlight.
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the world > the universe > constellation > comet or meteor > meteor > [noun] > meteorite
stone1628
sky stone1750
meteoric stone1809
meteorolite1812
ceraunite1814
meteor stone1818
meteorite1823
star-glint1825
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > stone > a stone > [noun] > meteorite > other meteorites
air-stone1608
iron1802
aerolite1810
aerolith1811
uranolite1815
star-glint1825
brontolith1860
aerosiderite1863
aerosiderolite1863
pallasite1863
siderolite1863
siderite1866
mesosiderite1868
howardite1881
chondrite1883
oligosiderite1883
plessite1885
diogenite1895
achondrite1904
octahedrite1905
nakhlite1916
ureilite1916
stony-iron1918
micrometeorite1949
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Starglint, a shot star, Perths.
1859 Baptist Mag. Nov. 661 Neither star-glint nor gas-lamp,..nor the flashing of the aurora, nor the cold sweetness of the moon's rays, can make a morning for us.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Star-Glint, a meteorite.
1905 R. C. Praed Maid of River xv. 171 They drifted down the river—all dark and silent, but with points of light reflected from the star-glints on high.
2010 J. Overstreet Raven's Ladder iii. 33 He..surveyed the star-glint on the thorns of rain-wet husker-brambles.
star god n. a star or planet worshipped as a god; (also) a god associated with a particular star or planet.
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the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > specific thing as > star as
star goda1620
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. xi. 325 Which sentence of his, cannot bee vnderstood, of the fore-named Star-Gods.
1765 W. Warburton Divine Legation Moses (ed. 4) III. iv. iv. 218 The method, used by the Egyptians,..of supporting brute-worship,..made the same writers think it to be originally symbolical of star-Gods.
1850 R. W. Mackay Progress of Intellect I. iii. 123 He [sc. the prophet Amos] declares that these external ceremonies were..offered..to Moloch, or to a star god equivalent to Saturn.
1905 E. A. T. W. Budge Egypt. Heaven & Hell II. 263 Three bearded beings, the ‘Star-gods’.
2005 T. Harpur Pagan Christ iii. vi. 94 The minor deity Anup, though distinguished, was only a star god.
star jump n. chiefly British a physical exercise performed by jumping on the spot in such a way as to alternate between two standing positions, one with the legs together and the arms by one's sides, the other with the legs spread wide and the hands reaching high (or touching) overhead.
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1905 E. A. Roberts Handbk. Free-standing Gymnastics i. 58 ‘Star jump.’ Jump on the spot with 2 A. and 2 L. parting.
1990 Viz Apr. 5/3 (in cartoon) Well, let's do something a little harder—star jumps, on the spot.
2006 Ace Tennis Oct. 29/2 If those not hitting are not moving they need to be kept on their toes by skipping, ladder work or simple star jumps in between goes.
star-maker n. (a) a divine being responsible for the creation of the stars (now rare); (b) a person, studio, etc., noted for turning people into film stars, pop stars, etc.; (also) a performance, film, etc., that results in a person becoming such a star.
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1832 Boston Investigator 28 Sept. Does not brimstone prove a brimstone maker, as much as stars prove a star maker?
1884 J. H. Ward Gospel Philos. xiv. 211 When the old Ptolemaic system was exploded by Copernicus, the vaunted wisdom of men proclaimed that the Bible also was exploded. But the Star-Maker triumphed over the star-gazers.
1895 Life 10 Oct. 234/2 We knew that as a star-maker the perennial Tony was largely responsible for Miss Lilian Russell.
1905 N.Y. Observer 21 Dec. 836/1 If our God were only a starmaker, the stars would sufficiently tell the story.
1993 High Life (Brit. Airways) Oct. 94/3 Then came Top Gun. This was the star-maker... Cruise saw his skyborne maverick take the film into the $100 million-plus stratosphere.
2007 J. Collins Drop Dead Beautiful (2008) 496 Hamilton J. Heckerling. Movie Mogul Supreme. Uber-producer. Star-maker.
star-making adj. (of a person, studio, etc.) noted for turning people into film stars, pop stars, etc.; (also of a performance, film, etc.) that turns a person into such a star.
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1935 Washington Post 13 Jan. 5/2 She ought to stay here a while longer in order to let a star-making studio get to work on her.
1962 Press-Courier (Oxnard, Calif.) 25 Jan. 18/8 His constant struggle in Hollywood to keep from being typed in gangster roles after his star-making performance as a coin-flipping killer in ‘Scarface’.
2010 G. D. Phillips Some like it Wilder 156 Its director, William Wyler, assured Wilder that Hepburn had given a star-making performance.
star map n. a map which shows the positions of the stars in a region of the sky or space.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > representational device > [noun] > map of heavens > stars
astroscope1675
star map1839
star chart1840
sky map1874
1839 Morning Post 30 Aug. The courses of only 977 have therefore been marked upon the star-maps, with all the circumstances relative to them.
1900 W. B. Blaikie (title) Monthly star maps for the year 1900.
1979 D. Adams Hitch Hiker's Guide to Galaxy 79 She sighed and punched up a star map on the visiscreen.
2001 P. Moore 2002 Yearbk. Astron. i. 115 On star maps, Pegasus..looks quite conspicuous, since its four main stars make up an obvious square.
star-mapper n. Astronomy an instrument for mapping stars; esp. an automatic instrument carried by a satellite for measuring and recording the positions of stars.Quot. 1870 represents an isolated early use (cf. photo-mapper n. at photo- comb. form 2b).
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1870 H. M. Parkhurst in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 49 38 The motion of the diaphragm may be produced..by the star-key of my star-mapper; and this constitutes the Photo-mapper.
1979 P. L. Bernacca in C. Barbieri & P. L. Bernacca Colloquium on Europeam Satellite Aston. 25 A photo multiplier detects the light signal as a reference star crosses the star mapper.
2013 Space Daily (Nexis) 12 Sept. Europe's Gaia ‘star-mapper’ has arrived in French Guiana for an Arianespace Soyuz launch later this year on a mission to chart the locations and motions of a billion stars.
star moulding n. Architecture a type of moulding (moulding n.1 2a) carved with a continuous series of figures representing stars, typically associated with Norman architecture.
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1838 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 2) 124 Star moulding, an ornament used in Norman architecture.
1850 J. H. Parker Gloss. Terms Archit. (ed. 5) II. ii. 44 The ornament consists of the cable, and a variety of what is sometimes called star moulding. This is formed by drawing the diagonals of a square and cutting down the intervals.
1904 Reliquary Jan. 71 Even on the typical star moulding in Herringfleet Church, Suffolk, the rectangular form within which the star is contained and which equally forms the pattern can be traced.
2004 Atlanta Jrnl.-Constit. (Nexis) 22 Aug. (Gwinnet News) 3 jj Homes where antique mantels, tongue-and-groove ceilings, star moldings and Queen Anne ornamental trim help reveal their histories.
star network n. a network in which each node is connected to a central hub; (in later use esp.) a communications or data network in which each terminal is connected to a central computer or computing system.
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society > communication > telecommunication > [noun] > link or network > types of
star1924
star network1924
data link1953
downlink1963
uplink1968
integrated services digital network1974
ISDN1974
UMTS1990
1924 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 59 308 Each of these 12 deltas provides also an equivalent star network.
1977 Financial Times 21 Feb. 13/1 Modern data networks have come a long way since the banks first started installing their enormous star networks.
2014 S. K. Sen Fieldbus & Networking in Process Automation ii. 35 If the central computer or the hub fails, the total star network fails.
star pagoda n. now historical any of a number of types of gold coin formerly current in southern India, of higher denomination than the rupee, and bearing the image of a star or stars; esp. such a coin issued by the East India Company in the early 19th cent., with a design on the obverse of a pagoda surrounded by stars; cf. pagoda n. 3.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > foreign coins > [noun] > coins of Indian subcontinent
fanam1555
St. Thomas' coin1559
pardao1582
seraphin1582
chequina1587
pagody1588
pagoda1598
tanga1598
mahmudi1612
rupee1612
mohur1614
tola1614
lakh1615
picec1617
sicca rupee1619
rupee1678
anna1680
cash1711
R1711
star pagoda1741
pie1756
sicca1757
dam1781
dub1781
hun1807
swamy-pagoda1813
chick1842
re1856
paisa1884
naya paisa1956
poisha1974
1741 in Rec. Fort St. George (1916) LXXI. 134 A letter to Fort St. David of this date to accompany a supply of ten thousand (10,000) Star pagodas read and signed.
1776 G. Pigot Diary 12 Apr. in Copies Papers Restoration King of Tanjore (1777) I. 122 Received a letter from the Rajah..offering an assignment..of 400,000 Star Pagodas per annum.
1858 H. Beveridge Comprehensive Hist. India II. vi. v. 711 One lac of star pagodas (£40,000).
1932 Times of India 3 May 6/7 Previous attempts in 1896 and 1907 had resulted in the recovery of some hundreds of gold star pagodas.
2014 Bangalore Mirror (Nexis) 25 Aug. The manuscript was sent to Major Mark Wilks..who persuaded Lord William Bentinck at Fort St George to buy it for 2,000 star pagodas.
star point n. Electrical Engineering the common node of the windings or other impedances in a star-connected system.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > electrical engineering > motor > [noun] > induction motor > connection to common point > junction of
star point1901
1901 tr. in Helios 4 Sept. 791/3 If the star point [Ger. Sternpunkt] is put into direct connection with the earth, it can be found whether the pressure of the three parts of the transformer is the same.
1969 Power Syst. Protection (Electr. Council) II. xi. 404 Each section of busbar is connected via a reactor to a common star point, and if the feeders and generators are suitably arranged little or no current need flow through the reactors.
2005 T. Linsley Basic Electr. Installation Work (ed. 4) iii. 137/2 In any star-connected system currents flow along the lines (IL), through the load and return by the neutral conductor connected to the star point.
star press n. [after German Sternpresse (1819 in the passage translated in quot. 1819)] now chiefly historical a type of lithographic or copperplate printing press in which the handle on the roller is star-shaped; cf. sense 14c.
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1819 A. Schlichtegroll tr. A. Senefelder Compl. Course Lithography 191 The sorts of presses which are commonly used at Munich, are—the upright Lever Press—and the Cylinder, or Star Press [Ger. Stern-Presse].
1886 Jrnl. Amateur Photogr. 30 538 These hand-presses, which are known under the name of Stern or Star press, are used mostly for printing of negatives from nature.
1974 M. Knigin & M. Zimiles Contemp. Lithogr. Workshop iii. 37 The star press..which used a star wheel instead of a lever, is almost an exact replica of the presses in use today for direct hand printing in most of the ateliers throughout the world.
star prize n. the first or most valuable prize in a competition, raffle, etc.
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1879 Liverpool Mercury 26 Apr. 6/1 At the conclusion of the play it was found that Dr. Argyll Robertson had won the Duke of Connaught's star prize with a score of 83.
1888 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 14 Oct. 3/1 After tallying the stars and goose eggs the following prizes were awarded: Ladies' star prize, Mrs. H. M. Ehrenworth; ladies' booby prize, Miss Carrie Kiam.
1952 Berkshire Evening Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.) 29 Mar. 5/3 A special star prize went to Mrs. Phyllis Welch and door prizes were won by Mrs. Corcoran, William Jordan and Mrs. Louis Baker.
1993 Air Gunner Nov. 33/2 (advt.) We'll be fitting this month's star prize with a classy scope and two-stage silencer.
2012 Aberdeen Evening Express (Nexis) 7 Apr. 20 Retired teacher Isobel Hay said she couldn't believe her luck when she scooped the star prize of a BlackBerry Curve mobile phone.
star projector n. a projector used to form an image of stars and other celestial objects, esp. in a planetarium.
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1925 Proc. U.S. Naval Inst. May 764 The diapositives for these star projectors [Ger. für die Sternprojektion] were made photographically.
1988 Yankee June 106/2 The lights dimmed and his homemade web-legged star projector beamed to life.
2005 Discover May 76/2 For most of its 72 years, the Fels [Planetarium] generated its images with a star projector, the distinctive barbell-shaped apparatus in the center of the floor that shoots light through pinprick holes.
star-proof adj. chiefly poetic (now rare) impervious to starlight; also figurative.
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the world > matter > light > transparency or translucence > opacity > [adjective] > specific
star-proof1645
1645 J. Milton Arcades in Poems 55 Under the shady roof Of branching Elm Star-proof.
1747 Museum 9 May 128 Far in the Covert of a Bushy Wood, Where aged Trees their Star-Proof Branches spread.
1873 E. Bulwer-Lytton Kenelm Chillingly I. i. xi. 83 To all female fascinations he had been hitherto star-proof.
1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting & Other Poems 18 A Roof o'er our heads Star-proof, moon immune.
star pulley n. †(a) a spoked wheel used to drive the rotation of the bobbin in a textile-processing machine; = sense 14b (Obsolete); (b) (chiefly Mining) a pulley that uses a toothed wheel, typically to fit the links of a chain; = chain-pulley n. at chain n. Compounds 3 (now rare).
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > part(s) of
nut1428
peise1428
plumbc1450
Jack1498
clockwork1516
larum1542
Jack of the clockhouse1563
watch-wheel1568
work1570
plummeta1578
Jack of the clock1581
snail-cam1591
snail-work1591
pointer1596
quarter jack1604
mainspring1605
winder1606
notch-wheel1611
fusee1622
count-wheel1647
jack-wheel1647
frame1658
arbor1659
balance1660
fuse1674
hour-figure1675
stop1675
pallet1676
regulator1676
cock1678
movement1678
detent1688
savage1690
clock1696
pinwheel1696
starred wheel1696
swing-wheel1696
warning-wheel1696
watch1696
watch-part1696
hoop-wheel1704
hour-wheel1704
snail1714
step-wheel1714
tide-work1739
train1751
crutch1753
cannon pinion1764
rising board1769
remontoire1774
escapement1779
clock jack1784
locking plate1786
scapement1789
motion work1795
anchor escapement1798
scape1798
star-wheel1798
recoil escapement1800
recoiling pallet1801
recoiling scapement1801
cannon1802
hammer-tail1805
recoiling escapement1805
bottle jack1810
renovating spring1812
quarter-boy1815
pin tooth1817
solar wheel1819
impulse-teeth1825
pendulum wheel1825
pallet arbor1826
rewinder1826
rack hook1829
snail-wheel1831
quarter bell1832
tow1834
star pulley1836
watch train1838
clock train1843
raising-piece1843
wheelwork1843
gravity escapement1850
jumper1850
vertical escapement1850
time train1853
pin pallet1860
spade1862
dead well1867
stop-work1869
ringer1873
strike-or-silent1875
warning-piece1875
guard-pin1879
pendulum cock1881
warning-lever1881
beat-pin1883
fusee-piece1884
fusee-snail1884
shutter1884
tourbillion1884
tumbler1884
virgule1884
foliot1899
grasshopper1899
grasshopper escapement1899
trunk1899
pin lever1908
clock spring1933
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > wheel > [noun] > cog or gear > star
starred wheel1696
star-wheel1798
star pulley1836
1836 A. Ure Cotton Manuf. Great Brit. II. iii. iv. 226 The tenter..sees at a glance the bobbins which are reposing above the line of their star-pulleys.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1109 The small friction pulley or boss, d, seen best in fig. 986., by which they rest upon the star pulleys c, c.
1907 Mining World 13 Apr. 473/3 The tubs are passed round the curves by means of star pulleys.
1959 D. L. Le Jeune Mining Machinery & Transport ix. 253/1 The small slotted pulley is commonly known as a ‘star’ pulley.
star quad n. Telecommunications a quad (quad n.6) in which the four conductors are all twisted around a common axis, with members of each pair being diametrically opposite each other; attributive relating to or employing such a quad.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > line
wire1813
line1847
wire line1848
loop1863
landline1865
saddle wire1876
telephone line1877
concentric cable1888
Pupin cable1904
multiple twin1922
quad1922
twisted pair1923
star quad1927
music line1929
coaxial cable1934
coax1945
1927 Electrician 29 July 137/1 Hitherto it has been the practice to work a physical or side circuit upon each pair of diagonally arranged conductors. Cores worked in this manner have in recent years been referred to as ‘Star Quads’.
1958 J. R. G. Smith Elem. Telecommunications Pract. v. 73 Other features of star-quad cables are that in some cables certain of the pairs are screened by being wrapped in metallized paper.
1976 W. Schubert Communications Cables & Transmission Syst. i. 21 The four wires in a star quad are simultaneously stranded with a twist.
2001 J. Watkinson Art Digital Audio (ed. 3) ii. 75 The star-quad technique is possibly the ultimate interference rejecting cable construction.
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the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > [noun]
moonOE
Diana1398
Hecatec1420
lady of the night1480
luna?1499
Lucina?1504
Phoebe1600
queen of the night?1610
mother of months1613
noctiluca1623
Cynthia1645
Oliver?1747
star-queen1818
Paddy's lantern1834
parish lantern1847
night-sun1855
1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 187 The Star-Queen's crescent [cf. Horace Carm. Saec. 35 siderum regina bicornis].
1853 E. Arnold Poems 170 The Star-queen comes to her cloudy throne.
star quilt n. a quilt featuring a star-shaped design or pattern; (in later use) spec. a style of North American Indian quilt featuring a large star.
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1834 Boston Morning Post 7 May A young lady in Charleston, S. C., has recently manifested the possession of an uncommon stock of patience and perseverance, in the completion of..a Star Quilt, composed of 7239 pieces.
1888 Forum Mar. 686 A little geometry would never come amiss in making a star quilt.
1949 S. Lewis God-seeker 196 He had nailed down the loose floor boards and built a broad log bed, covered cheerily with his mother's star quilt.
1992 Prime Time (Albuquerque, New Mexico) Oct. 11/3 Star quilts from five communities in New Mexico and Arizona will be for sale.
2014 Bismarck (N. Dakota) Tribune (Nexis) 14 June 1 a Archambault and tribal leaders presented Obama with a star quilt and first lady Michelle Obama with a Standing Rock Sioux tribal flag.
star rating n. (originally) a mark of high quality, expressed by the awarding of a star; (now usually) a rating consisting of a number of stars (often up to five) used as an indication of the standard or quality of a product, service, etc.
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1887 Sunday Inter Ocean (Chicago) 19 June 7/5 I notice a statement has been made to the effect that ‘under the new Inland Lloyds ruling the possession of a steel cord or arch..is sufficient to give a star rating to steamers’.
1914 Boston Sunday Post 4 Jan. 42 (advt.) Dr. Harvey W Wiley has given Del Monte canned fruits and vegetables a star rating for quality.
1968 Daily Tel. 29 Feb. 16/7 The higher the star rating the more the facilities available to guests.
2004 Independent (Nexis) 10 Feb. 6 The Government denied yesterday that it was planning to abolish the controversial star-ratings system for health service trusts.
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1606 P. Holland in tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars Annot. 34* Our olde Edward Star-Reals, or fifteene shilling peeces.
star redoubt n. now historical = star fort n.; (also) the fortifications surrounding such a fort.
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > fort according to shape
pentagonon1625
star-sconce1632
octagon1648
pentagon1648
hexagon1669
star fort1669
tetragon1669
star1672
star redoubt1687
trigon1688
1687 J. Taylor Thesaurarium Mathematicae xiii. 299 A Star Redoubt of four points may have his side from 40 to 60 Feet.
1702 Mil. Dict. (1704) (at cited word) Star-Redoute, of four, of five, of six, or of more points, otherwise call'd an Estoile.
1824 Scotsman 7 Aug. 589/2 The main lines are in angles of 45 and 90 deg., and a building resembling what is called a star redoubt, is attached to it.
1904 T. A. Dodge Napoleon I. xvii. 489 A star redoubt was ordered to be erected on the Pyramid plateau.
2003 J. G. A. Pocock Barbarism & Relig. (2005) III. xiii. 281 If gunpowder worked a military revolution, it was through cannon mounted in star redoubts.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > English coins > [noun] > coin of fifteen shillings
star rial1580
spur rial1588
spur-royal1600
star-real1606
1580 Accts. of Thomas Fermor in Archæol. Jrnl. (1851) 8 185 It. rec. of old gold, one staw ryall [sic], a duckett [etc.].
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > fort according to shape
pentagonon1625
star-sconce1632
octagon1648
pentagon1648
hexagon1669
star fort1669
tetragon1669
star1672
star redoubt1687
trigon1688
1632 Swedish Intelligencer: 1st Pt. 112 Beleeved it was, that he would at least haue fallen vpon the great Starre-Sconce by the old Elve.
1709 Daily Courant 15 June 1/2 The Star-Sconce, situate over against Fort-Louis, is garrison'd with 400 Men.
1772 J. Andrews Coll. Plans Capital Cities Europe 71 On the other side of the Bason below the Town, is the Star-Sconce, a fortification so strong, that the King of Denmark could not take it.
star-shake n. a shake (shake n.1 9a) in timber consisting of clefts or fissures radiating from the pith of the tree.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > cracks
star-shake1779
rend1850
season-check1887
1779 P. L. Hodgson Compl. Measurer (ed. 7) 24 Proper Allowance should be made for rotten Knots, Cup and Star Shakes, Dozes, Ingalls, Worm Holes, Hollows, forked and stubshud Ends, &c.
1860 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 1 June 556/1 Trees, under these circumstances, become exposed to the inconvenience of what are called star shakes, or cracks in the body of the wood, radiating from the centre towards the circumference.
1875 T. Laslett Timber & Timber Trees 178 The chief defect in Mexican Mahogany is the prevalence of star-shake.
1995 R. Strouts & D. Lonsdale tr. H. Butin Tree Dis. & Disorder vii. 142 (caption) Fig. 85 Stem cracks in oak..star-shake in Red oak extending from a central area of decay.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > [noun] > taking of altitudes > person
star-shooter1580
lunarian1817
1580 W. Bourne Regiment for Sea (new ed.) To Rdr. sig. ¶B.ijv When that they did take the latitude, they would cal them starre shooters and Sunne shooters.
1863 Athenæum 21 Nov. 63 When navigators first began to make observations with instruments on deck, the self-sufficient called them star-shooters and when the star's altitude was taken would ask if they had hit it.
star-shooting n. now rare (a) (as a mass noun or in plural) shooting stars; frequently figurative; (b) (humorous) the taking of the altitude of stars.In quot. 1639 apparently used to suggest twinkling or sparkling (of the eyes).
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > [noun] > taking of altitudes
observation1559
star-shooting1639
1639 J. Mayne Citye Match ii. iii. 14 You think you are handsome now, and that your eyes Make star-shooting, and dart?
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 163 All their Capitulations were held to be Star-shootings, Flashes, and Meteors, without the Bird in the Hand.
1843 Amer. Eclectic Feb. 148/1 Falling stars appear, partly as small, quickly evanishing sparks, partly as long, rocket-like star-shootings.
1850 R. R. Carter Jrnl. 11 Oct. in Searching for Franklin Exped. (1998) 89 Star shooting or observing is a very cold and troubles[ome] sport.
1898 Daily News 14 Apr. 2/3 After a good deal of star-shooting and other scientific operations.
1936 Transition June 57 Higher and higher we steeped our way. We saw lightning-forking and starshooting.
1991 P. Hinchcliffe tr. H. Herrmann Eagle's Wings vi. 114 While the star-shooting was in progress, I had to fly steady and without accelerating.
star shower n. a shower of falling meteors.
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the world > the universe > constellation > comet or meteor > meteor > [noun] > shower
meteor stream1810
star showera1822
meteor current1870
a1822 P. B. Shelley Posthumous Poems (1824) 164 I see the waves upon the shore, Like light dissolved in star-showers, thrown.
1924 J. D. Wade Augustus Bladwin Longstreet v. 131 Like the others, she recognized from the star shower that the Last Judgment was upon her.
2015 Basingstoke Gaz. (Nexis) 11 Jan. At night time, it is an area you can go to see the lovely star showers that we have seen recently.
star sight n. an observation of the stars made using an instrument for the purpose of navigation.
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1881 Rep. Secretary of Navy App. 132 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (47th Congr., 1st Sess.: Executive Doc. 1, Pt. 3) VIII The following course of instruction has been pursued:..star sights opposite sides of zenith.
1951 H. Wouk Caine Mutiny (1952) v. xxix. 317 You can work out star sights and check your posit against mine.
1997 P. Pullman Subtle Knife (1998) vi. 121 He was..calling out instructions to his men—they were taking star-sights, and they had to get the measurements right or he'd lash them with his tongue.
starspot n. Astronomy a region of lower brightness and more intense magnetic activity on the surface of a star, equivalent to a sunspot.
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1900 G. J. Stoney in Nature 8 Mar. 444/1 According as the sun or other star shrinks, its sun-spot or star-spot period will presumably undergo some change.
1947 Sci. News Let. 20 Dec. 397/1 The patches—Dr. Kron says he is not yet prepared to say they are ‘star spots’—were observed on the smaller, sun-like star of AR Lacertae.
1990 F. Pohl World at End of Time (1993) 61 Blue light was particularly good for looking for starspots.
2001 D. Weldrake in P. Moore 2002 Yearbk. Astron. ii. 181 Such large starspots have been observed on red supergiant stars such as Betelgeux.
star-spotting n. (a) the action of identifying or observing stars; (b) the action of identifying or looking for celebrities.In quot. 1922 with reference to a method of locating stars for purposes of navigation at sea.
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1922 U.S. Naval Inst. Proc. July 69 ‘Star Spotting’..permits the location of stars and planets very expeditiously.
1940 Scotsman 17 Jan. 11/2 Have you played the new black-out game of star-spotting?.. See how many of them you can spot by name. The Great Bear. The Little Bear [etc.].
1954 South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 23 July 4/5 Continuing the star spotting game, there are two bit-players in ‘Hell Below Zero’ who look as if they might have a promising film future.
2010 R. Bailey et al. Back Roads France 239 (heading) Star-spotting. Keep an eye open for A-list celebrities while wandering the pretty streets of Saint-Tropez.
2015 Canberra (Austral.) Times (Nexis) 26 Oct. 8 Star-spotting is easier indoors. On rainy days, the comfort of a planetarium is the best way to see the stars.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > astronomy > [adjective] > star-gazing
stargazing1593
star-staring1621
1621 R. Brathwait Natures Embassie 20 Star-staring earthling, puff'd with insolence.
1660 T. Fuller Panegyrick to His Majesty i. 1 They saw You gone, but whither could not tell, Star-staring, though they ask'd both Heaven and Hell.
star stitch n. (in needlework, crochet, etc.) any of various stitches used to form a series or pattern of star shapes.
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1792 C. Palmer It is, & it is not Novel I. vii. 54 I followed your pattern exactly; but added a ground-work, the width of a narrow edging, in star stitch.
1882 S. F. A. Caulfeild & B. C. Saward Dict. Needlework 30 Double Stitch..is also known by the name of ‘star stitch’.
1975 H. Hanley Needlepoint (rev. ed.) 120 The star stitch is the basic model of the following eight stitches. They are all ray or spoke stitches radiating out of one central mesh.
2014 J. King Learn Star Stitch Crochet 2/1 Star stitch is a 2-row pattern repeat, and once mastered, it is really simple to follow.
star stream n. †(a) a narrow band of the sky or space that is rich in stars (obsolete); (b) Astronomy a large group of stars having similar proper motions; esp. each of two such groups with opposite directions of motion (cf. star streaming n.).In quot. 1844 denoting the constellation Eridanus, the River.
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the world > the universe > sky, heavens > [noun] > region, zone
coastc1400
zone1795
star stream1844
lane1899
the world > the universe > star > stellar motion > [noun]
proper motion1561
star drift1829
star stream1844
motus peculiaris1890
star streaming1905
drift1906
1844 J. Leitch tr. C. O. Müller Introd. Sci. Syst. Mythology ix. 138 There were many instances in which..the mythological name superseded the simple description of form, as e. g., the star-stream was converted into Eridanus [Ger. aus dem Sternenstrome ein Eridanos wurde].
1894 Knowledge 1 June 133/1 The streams are in most cases accompanied by narrow black channels in the general nebulosity, which run parallel to and alongside of the star streams.
1904 J. C. Kapteyn in H. J. Rogers Congress Arts & Sci. (1906) IV. 418 Here we have a clear indication that we have to do with two star-streams.
1968 W. M. Smart Riddle of Universe vi. 106 Kapteyn's star-streams are consistent with the phenomenon of galactic rotation and are indeed explained by it.
2007 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Apr. 26/1 Probably the most impressive of the known star streams is the Sagittarius stream,..discovered in 1994.
star streaming n. Astronomy the phenomenon (explained by galactic rotation) by which stars in the Milky Way Galaxy tend broadly to have proper motions in one or other of two opposite directions, thus falling into two intermingled groups or streams; cf. star stream n. (b).
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the world > the universe > star > stellar motion > [noun]
proper motion1561
star drift1829
star stream1844
motus peculiaris1890
star streaming1905
drift1906
1905 Times 18 Aug. 4/2 Professor Kapteyn, director of the astronomical laboratory of the University of Groningen..read a paper entitled ‘On Star Streaming’.
1919 J. H. Jeans Probl. Cosmogony & Stellar Dynamics x. 240 As we believe that there is correlation between spectral type and mass, there ought also to be correlation between spectral type and star-streaming, in the sense of M-type stars shewing star-streaming least.
1979 K. R. Lang & O. Gingerich Source Bk. Astron. & Astrophysics lxxvii. 514 Karl Schwarzschild showed that it was unnecessary to think of two star streams and that the phenomenon of star streaming could be explained by assuming that the individual motions of the stars are distributed in an ellipsoid with the long axis in the direction of motion of Kapteyn's two star streams.
2004 G. Wise Civic Astron. vi. 118 Star streaming was perhaps the greatest discovery by Kapteyn, one of the great astronomers of modern times.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > environmental disorders > [noun] > sunstroke or heatstroke
sun heatOE
calenture1593
insolation1758
coup de soleil1772
sunstroke1787
star-stroke1837
touch of the sun1867
thermoplegia1909
1837 D. Craigie Elements Pract. Physic I. i. i. 58 To this [sc. Encephalic or Phrenitic ague] may be referred the form termed Egyptian Star-stroke or Sun-stroke, coup de soleil (Siriasis Ægyptiaca).
1901 P. H. Pye-Smith Fagge's Text-bk. Med. (ed. 4) I. 941 More recently an article has appeared by Dr Sambon..advocating the recognition of sunstroke or, to use an old name, siriasis (star-stroke) as a specific infective fever.
star tracker n. a device which automatically establishes and maintains an orientation relative to a star, used in spacecraft, missiles, space telescopes, etc.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > spacecraft > parts of spacecraft > [noun] > device for maintaining orientation
bubble sextant1919
sun-seeker1948
star tracker1949
1949 R. E. Gibson in Jrnl. Amer. Rocket Soc. Sept. 138 Increase in the reliability of free and rate gyros, star trackers, accelerometers, and other means of sensing motion in a frame of co-ordinates.
1962 Aeroplane & Commerc. Aviation News 103 32/1 The main outstanding problem in the provision of such a system is the development of a suitable daylight star-tracker.
1978 Nature 5 Oct. 378/2 The star tracker in the scientific instrument can identify and guide on stars brighter than 14 mag.
2009 N.Y. Times 19 May a17/6 Finishing the replacement of the [Hubble] telescope's batteries and installing a refurbished star tracker.
star tracking n. the action of automatically establishing and maintaining an orientation relative to a star; frequently attributive; cf. star tracker n.
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society > travel > air or space travel > space flight > [noun] > specific manoeuvres or operations
star tracking1947
rendezvous1951
probing1958
spin-stabilization1961
link-up1965
undocking1966
1947 Sky & Telescope June 6/3 While automatic star-tracking equipment of the type employed on telescopes could be used, the principal problem lies in devising some kind of stable platform to be used as an artificial horizon.
1949 N.Y. Times 10 June 51/6 Missile guidance by automatic star tracking and the commercial possibilities of pilotless aircraft were discussed today.
1964 Discovery Oct. 7/3 A star-tracking ability can readily be developed from the same system.
2001 M. Cassutt Red Moon xlv. 318 Zond 5 had suffered its first failure, the all-too-familiar inability of the star-tracking system to orient itself.
star trail n. a streak on a long-exposure or composite photographic image formed by a star moving across the field of view as a result of the earth's rotation.
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1891 Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 3 152 The Secretary [sc. G. E. Hale] then brought up the subject of variable stars, and exhibited in this connection a number of star-trails photographed with a stationary camera and a Darlot or Laverne lens.
1972 A. Helm tr. G. D. Roth Amateur Astronomer & his Telescope xiii. 138 The resulting photograph will, of course, show star trails, but any meteor trails can be easily distinguished from these.
2014 City A.M. (Nexis) 4 July 23 From a massive moon sitting incongruously in a big blue sky, to star trails sweeping across desert skies, the night sky offers an embarrassment of riches for..photographers.
star trap n. (a) Theatre a trap in the floor or other part of a stage consisting of a number of wedge-shaped pieces which part when pressure is applied to the centre, used for the sudden appearance or disappearance of a performer; †(b) Astronomy a photographic system for recording stars visible in an area of sky and identifying uncatalogued stars, asteroids, etc. (obsolete).
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [noun] > trapdoor
trap1800
grave-trap1844
vampire trap1846
scruto1853
slote1853
star trap1873
vampire1881
1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. 279/1 A star trap is circular in form.
1876 N.Y. Times 22 Dec. 4/7 If Prof. Peters wishes to uphold the dignity of telescopic hunting, let him petition the Legislature for the appointment of an astronomical commission, with power to prevent the introduction of star-traps.
1901 Knowledge 1 Apr. 73/2 The wonderful photographic ‘star traps’ organised by Prof. Pickering at Harvard and Arequipa, by which all the principal stars visible every fine night are duly registered.
1945 N. Coward Diary 30 Aug. (2000) 38 He [sc. Churchill] was very charming and completely honest over his reaction to the election. He said..that there was nothing so mortifying as to step forward as a victor and drop through a star trap.
2006 Theatre Jrnl. 58 568 The two circles..mark the places in the screen where there is a ‘vampire door’ (this actually appears to be a star trap) through which performers could dive back and forth.
star vehicle n. a play, film, etc., designed especially to show off the talents of a particular performer.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > a play > [noun] > other types of play
king play1469
king game1504
historya1509
chronicle history1600
monology1608
horseplaya1627
piscatory1631
stock play1708
petite pièce1712
mimic1724
ballad opera1730
ballad farce1735
benefit-play1740
potboiler1783
monodrama1793
extravaganza1797
theo-drama1801
monodrame1803
proverb1803
stock piece1804
bespeak1807
ticket-night1812
dramaticle1813
monopolylogue1819
pièce d'occasion1830
interlude1831
mimea1834
costume piece1834
mummers' play1849
history play1850
gag-piece1860
music drama1874
well-made1881
playlet1884
two-decker1884
slum1885
kinderspiel1886
thrill1886
knockabout1887
two-hander1888
front-piece1889
thriller1889
shadow-play1890
mime play1894
problem play1894
one-acter1895
sex play1899
chronicle drama1902
thesis-play1902
star vehicle1904
folk-play1905
radio play1908
tab1915
spy play1919
one-act1920
pièce à thèse1923
dance-drama1924
a mess of plottage1926
turkey1927
weepie1928
musical1930
cliffhanger1931
mime drama1931
triangle drama1931
weeper1934
spine-chiller1940
starrer1941
scorcher1942
teleplay1947
straw-hatter1949
pièce noire1951
pièce rose1951
tab show1951
conversation piece1952
psychodrama1956
whydunit1968
mystery play1975
State of the Nation1980
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > type of film > [noun] > vehicle for star
star vehicle1904
starrer1941
1904 N.Y. Times 2 Oct. (2nd Mag. section) 2/1 Here we have a play so much the antithesis of the star vehicle as to put the smallest member of the cast all but on a par with the title part.
2010 M. E. Johnson H. Berry vi. 84 From the start, Catwoman sounded like the perfect star vehicle for Halle.
Star Wars n. (also with lower-case initials) [after Star Wars, the title of a popular science-fiction film (released in 1977) and the related franchise] (an informal name for) a military defence strategy proposed by United States President Ronald Reagan in 1983, in which enemy weapons would be destroyed in space by lasers, anti-ballistic missiles, etc., launched or directed from orbiting military satellites; cf. S.D.I. n. at S n.1 Initialisms 1.
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society > armed hostility > defence > [noun] > means of defence > specific defence strategy
Star Wars1983
S.D.I.1984
Brilliant Pebbles1988
society > armed hostility > war > war as profession or skill > [noun] > strategy > specific
forward defence1960
mutual assured destruction1968
MAD1969
mutually assured destruction1969
exit strategy1973
dual key1979
Star Wars1983
S.D.I.1984
society > armed hostility > war > war as profession or skill > [adjective] > strategy > specific
Euro-strategic1977
dual key1979
Star Wars1983
1982 Space World Aug. 10 (heading) The real star wars.]
1983 Time 4 Apr. 19/2 The first question is one of commitment: whether Ronald Reagan understands what it takes to nudge a doubting, cash-short nation into serious consideration of his star wars defense concept.
1991 St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 4 Dec. 2 c When the Cold War's end virtually eliminated the Soviet missile threat, it seemed there was no way to justify spending any more money on Star Wars.
2009 Times (Nexis) 18 Sept. 6/1 Since 1985..the US has spent or earmarked more than $124 billion (£75.4 million [sic]) on Star Wars.
star witness n. the principal or most important witness in a trial.
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society > law > administration of justice > court proceedings or procedure > evidence > [noun] > a witness > principal witness
star witness1875
1875 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Daily News 3 Aug. He..never was a star witness in a scandal trial.
1938 A. Berkeley Not to be Taken iv. 106 The newspapers made a sensation of it, of course. Disappearance of Star Witness on Eve of Inquest.
2014 Metro (Nexis) 23 May 23 When lawyers wheel out the big guns, it usually means a star witness has been found to blow the defendant's story sky high.
star worship n. the worship of stars and other celestial objects.
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society > faith > worship > kinds of worship > [noun] > of heavenly bodies
star worship1572
Sabaism1669
astrolatry1678
uranolatry1706
Sabianism1788
uranotheism1801
Atenism1925
planetolatrya1963
1572 in J. Bridges tr. R. Gwalther Hundred, Threescore & Fiftene Homelyes vppon Actes Apostles sig. f.iiiv/3 (table) Starre worship, a thing common to the Gentiles.
1670 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. II i. iv. 69 There were other parts of Zabaisme, or Star-worship, namely Images and Fire.
1769 R. Wood Ess. Homer p. xxxv Star worship was the native idolatory of a serene sky and desart plains.
1832 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 22 Oct. Religions of all sorts, from Sabaism, or the old symbolical star worship, to methodism.
1902 Jrnl. Amer. Folklore 15 138 The south Arabian inscriptions reveal the prevalence of star-worship, and moon-cult.
2013 W. Madelung in M. Cook et al. Law & Trad. Classical Islamic Thought xiv. 270 These were mostly theories of Greek and philosophical origins that could serve as a basis for justifying the star worship by the Ḥārranian Ṣābians.
star worshipper n. a person who practises star worship.
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society > faith > worship > kinds of worship > [noun] > of heavenly bodies > practitioner of
star worshipper1570
Sabaist1662
Sabian1716
1570 R. Porder Serm. Gods Fearefull Threatnings f. 41v, (margin) Starre worshippers in Iuda.
1672 H. More Brief Reply ix. 271 Can therefore any one with eyes and hands lift up to the morning Star,..but he will be lookt upon as an Idolater and Star-worshipper?
1860 E. B. Pusey Minor Prophets 447 The milder form of idolatry, the star-worshippers.
1933 W. R. Inge God & Astronomers vii. 268 I would rather be a star-worshipper than believe with Hegel..that the starry heavens have no more significance than a rash on the sky.
2007 C. Roberts Star of Magi v. 145 Early texts, in which Christians had long-running arguments with fatalistic star worshippers.
star-ypointing adj. [irregularly < star n.1 + y- prefix + pointing adj.] literary and poetic directed or pointing towards the stars.Probably chiefly echoing Milton's use (see quot. 1632).
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1632 J. Milton Epit. On Shakespear in W. Shakespeare Comedies, Hist. & Trag. (ed. 2) sig. A5 Vnder a starre-ypointing Pyramid.
1867 Theol. Rev. July 367 The church at Scrooby is a more imposing..pile, with nave and aisles and chancel, and a star-y-pointing spire.
1959 J. Bithell Mod. German Lit. (ed. 3) xi. 262 The star-ypointing dreams of the creative artist.
1993 A. R. Ammons Garbage 104 Everything Assimilated to star-ypointing song.
C6. In names of animals: see also starfish n., star shell n. 2.† star-cake n. Obsolete rare a flattened sea urchin, perhaps the rock-boring urchin, Echinometra lucunter.† star cowry n. Obsolete rare a cowry, Erosaria helvola, having an orange or brown shell with white spots concentrated on the dorsum.† star-hawk n. Obsolete the northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis.† star-spider n. Obsolete rare a venomous spider (not identified) having a black body with contrasting spots or stripes, perhaps one of the genus Latrodectus (black widows). [After classical Latin asterion (Pliny, cited in the source of quot. 1608; < Hellenistic Greek ἀστέριον , use as noun of the neuter of ancient Greek ἀστέριος starry: see asterion n.).] † star-tail n. Obsolete a tropicbird (genus Phaethon).
star buzzard n. the grey hawk of Central America and the southern United States, Buteo nitidus or B. plagiatus (formerly placed in a separate genus Asturina).
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
villain1481
Lentiner1575
make-falcon1575
make-hawk1575
bockerel1653
waskite1655
hack hawk1686
bawrel1706
buzzardet1785
nankeen hawk1827
buteo1848
rook hawk1855
kite-eagle1883
star buzzard1884
1884 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 551 Asturina, Star Buzzards.
1998 R. L. Glinski Raptors of Arizona 82/1 Buteo nitidus means ‘shining hawk’ or ‘star buzzard’. This striking medium-sized hawk is about 14-18 inches long, has a wingspan of 32-38 inches, and weighs 13-23 ounces.
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1713 J. Petiver Aquatilium Animalium Amboinæ 1/1 Echinus planus..Wrinkled Star-cake.
star coral n. any of various stony corals (order Scleractinia) or the fossils of similar corals; = star stone n. 2.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [noun] > class Anthozoa Actinozoa > order Zoantharia > division Aporosa > member of family Astraeidae
star coral1722
1722 Mem. Lit. (ed. 2) VI. 460 An American Brain-stone, and Star Coral.
1856 D. Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. x. 116 From the form or arrangement of their pores, these corals are known by such names as..astrœa, or star-coral.
1955 Jrnl. Paleontol. 29 203/2 The author also found living star coral, Astrangia astreiformis Milne Edwards and Haime, in Aransas Bay as far northeast as the old shipyard at Rockport.
2004 Sport Diver Aug. 78/2 Curaçao boasts some of the Caribbean's healthiest reefs, thick with..forests of gorgonians and mounds of star corals.
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1815 S. Brookes Introd. Conchol. 157 Star Cowry. Cypræa Helvola.
1826 M. A. Venning Rudim. Conchol. ix. 94 That is C[ypræa] helvola, star cowry: the sides are dark orange, and the back studded with yellow spots. It comes from the Maldivia isles.
star finch n. †(a) the common redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus (obsolete rare); (b) a waxbill of dry grassland in Australia, Neochmia ruficauda (family Estrildidae), having a red face, bill, and tail, and popular as a cage bird.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Phoenicurus > species phoenicurus (redstart)
redtail1544
redstart1553
stark1611
firetail1752
star finch1752
brandtail1802
redstart warbler1815
firebrand1848
fiery brandtail1853
fireflirt1883
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 507 Authors call it the Ruticilla and Phœnicurus; we, the Fire-tail, the Star-finch, and the Red-start.
1898 Avicultural Mag. Feb. 69 (table) Rufous-tailed Grass-finch... Star Finch.
1956 Behaviour 9 86 One of the Star Finches clumped with the fluffed Long-tailed Grassfinch and repeatedly preened its head.
2001 Bird Keeper Feb. 53/1 African silverbills are also good breeders, as are Australian star finches and Bicheno's finches.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Accipiter > accipiter gentilis (goshawk)
goshawkc1000
ostour1293
ostridgec1330
thief1486
star-hawk1668
pigeon hawk1731
blue hawk?a1775
gos1787
1668 W. Charleton Onomasticon Zoicon 64 Accipiter Asterias, Astur..the Star-hawk, or Egret.
1736 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ I. at Star The star hawk, Astur, uris, m.
1890 Cent. Dict. 5907/2 Star-hawk, a goshawk; a hawk of the genus Astur: so called from the stellate markings of the adult birds.
star lizard n. any of various Old World lizards of the agamid genera Laudakia and Stellagama having pale spots, esp. on the neck and throat; cf. starry lizard n. at starry adj. Compounds 2.Cf. also stellion n.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Lacertilia (lizards) > [noun] > family Agamidae (dragon lizards) > member of genus Stellio
stellion1382
harduna1398
Stellioa1425
star lizard1601
starry lizard1606
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxix. iv. 361 Our Stellions or Star-lizards [Fr. stellions; L. stelionibus] here in Italie.
1870 Amer. Jrnl. Pharmacy 42 453 The gall [of the cobra] of the most deadly kind..is also applicable in cases of bites of the centipede, scorpion, stingray, star-lizard, or Lacerta stella.
1997 Sunday Times (Nexis) 15 June This is a novel of scorching distinction. Crace knows his chosen terrain down to its last swag fly and star lizard.
2011 O. Llewellyn & A. Abdallah in S. Campbell Face of Earth iv. 193 A brawny star lizard—the painted rock agama—regards us from the edge of the terrace wall.
star-nose n. (more fully star-nose mole) = star-nosed mole n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Talpidae > genus Condylura (star-nosed mole)
radiated mole1771
star-nose1809
Condylura1837
1809 B. S. Barton Let. 19 Dec. in Mem. Philadelphia Soc. for Promoting Agric. (1811) 2 138 We have, at least, two species of moles near Philadelphia, which are in many respects, different; I mean the Sorex aquaticus about which I am most concerned, and the species called by our farmers, the ‘star-nose-mole’, or Sorex cristatus.
1903 S. N. Rhoads Mammals of Pennsylvania & New Jersey 202 From what we know of its habits and distribution, however, as well as its scarcity in arable lands, it is safe to say that a more harmless mammal than the star-nose does not exist.
2003 S. C. Morris Life's Solution vii. 175 (caption) The star-nose mole, a typical mole in terms of its powerful fore-limbs, but remarkable for its tentacular nose, with its nostrils clearly visible.
star-nosed mole n. a mole, Condylura cristata, of north-eastern North America, having twenty-two fleshy pink tentacles surrounding its nostrils.
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1825 R. Harlan Fauna Americana 37 ‘Star nosed mole’, Philadelphia Museum, No. 876.
1963 Winnipeg Free Press 9 Mar. 24 On February 8 an East Braintree resident encountered a star-nosed mole trundling blindly along a bush trail.
2002 Sci. Amer. July 40/3 Scanning its environment with a rapid series of touches, a star-nosed mole can find and eat five separate prey items..in a single second.
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1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 250 Of the wounding of the Starre-Spyder feeblenes and weakenes followeth.
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the world > animals > birds > order Pelecaniformes > [noun] > member of family Phaethontidae (tropic bird)
tropicbird1624
boatswain1815
marlinspike1858
long-tail1859
star-tail1862
boatswain bird1867
bosun bird1888
wig-tail1888
bosun1899
1862 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) II. 756 They also call it [sc. the Tropic Bird] by the name of Startail, on account of the long projecting tail-feathers.
1891 J. W. Buel Living World 413 It [sc. the Tropic Bird] constantly emits a harsh cry so that it has sometimes been called the boatswain, while its peculiar tail has gained for it yet another name,—that of the star-tail.
starthroat n. any of several hummingbirds of the genus Heliomaster, having a long bill and a patch of metallic reddish-purple on the throat of adult males.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > genus Heliomaster (star-throat)
starthroat1862
1862 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) II. 243 The Star-throats.
1972 A. F. Skutch Stud. Trop. Amer. Birds 61 I watched a starthroat collect cobweb from the walls of our house, then fly away so swiftly that I could never trace her course to the nest she was evidently building.
2001 S. L. Williams Field Guide Hummingbirds N. Amer. 11 Known as starthroats because of the gorget pattern of the southernmost species, the four members of this genus [sc.Heliomaster] all have very long bills.
star-throated adj. (of a bird) having a spotted throat or a throat marked with a brightly coloured patch.
ΚΠ
1862 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) II. 243 The Star-throated Humming-birds.
1994 Auk 111 474/2 M[yrmotherula] gularis (Star-throated Antwren)..is isolated in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil.
star tortoise n. a star tortoise (family Testudinidae), esp. (also more fully Indian star tortoise) the Indian starred tortoise, Geochelone elegans.
ΚΠ
1901 5th Ann. Rep. N.Y. Zool. Soc. 68 East India Star Tortoise.
1954 Herpetologica 10 45 Whenever the Star Tortoise happens to be tipped over, for one reason or another, the highly convex carapace seems to facilitate her righting herself.
2011 Maya News 16 Feb. 13/3 Special compartments in the man's bags contained 88 Indian Star tortoises, a protected species.
C7.
a. In names of plants: see also star apple n., starflower n., star fruit n., star grass n.1, star-grass n.2, starhead n., starthistle n., starwort n.† star pepper n. Obsolete rare a deciduous tree Tetradium daniellii (family Rutaceae) native to China and Korea, having shiny black seeds with a spicy, bitter taste; = bitter pepper n. at bitter adj. and n.1 Compounds 2.In China and Korea, the seeds are used medicinally and as a spice in cooking; elsewhere the tree is often cultivated to attract bees and is commonly known as the bee bee tree.
star anemone n. (a) a perennial herbaceous plant, Anemone hortensis (family Ranunculaceae), of northern temperate regions having white or purple stellate flowers; (b) a North American woodland perennial, Trientalis borealis (family Primulaceae), having white stellate flowers with prominent yellow stamens, cf. starflower n. 1.
ΚΠ
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole 204 (heading) The purple Starre Anemone or Windflower.
1791 Bot. Mag. 4 123 (heading) Anemone hortensis. Star anemone, or broad-leav'd garden anemone.
1882 Garden 14 Jan. 14/2 The Star Anemone in some of its more distinct colours should be freely grown.
1892 J. H. Newell Outl. Lessons in Bot. II. v. (Trientalis Americana) This flower is often found growing beside the Wood-Anemone, and as children, we used to call it Star-Anemone.
1915 L. J. Dale In Green Underwood 37 The still more graceful and delicate star anemone, the pointed white petals and slender golden stamens wide open to the light.
1960 J. Boardman tr. S. Marinatos Crete & Mycenae 143 A frieze of wind-stirred star-anemones painted white on a dark ground.
2003 Times (Nexis) 5 Apr. (Weekend section) 13 Two species of anemones were involved: A. coronaria (known as the ‘Poppy Anemone’) and A. pavonina (known as the ‘Star Anemone’, from its more pointed petals).
star anise n. the star-shaped fruit of the evergreen tree, Illicium verum (family Schisandraceae) of Vietnam and China, which is dried and used as a spice in cooking due to its aromatic flavour similar to that of anise; a tree producing such fruit; cf. badian n.The fruit of the Japanese star anise ( I. anisatum) closely resembles that of I. verum, esp. when dried, but it is highly toxic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Asian trees or shrubs > [noun] > Chinese or Japanese anise
badian1693
Chinese anise1727
poison bay1866
shikimi1881
star anise1883
1767 tr. Tariff, or Bk. Rates 56 (table) Бадьянь [sic], Star-anis-seed.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 445/1 Illicium anisatum..of which the fruit is exported from Canton, and well known in commerce by the name of Star anise.
1883 J. D. Hooker Let. 17 June in L. Huxley Life & Lett. J. D. Hooker (1918) II. xl. 251 We have ascertained the origin of Chinese Cassia, of the Star Anise, and of the Coffin wood.
1972 K. Lo Chinese Food i. 12 One or two pieces of star-anise and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
2013 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Jan. d5/1 Here at last was a food similar to something I'd known back home in Vietnam—bo kho, a beefy braise perfumed with star anise and zippy lemongrass.
star bush n. (a) (more fully African star bush) a small deciduous tree native to southern Africa which is also cultivated as a garden plant, Grewia occidentalis (family Malvaceae), having purple stellate flowers and four-lobed berries; (b) any of various Australian shrubs of the genus Asterolasia (family Rutaceae) having white or yellow star-shaped flowers and hairy leaves; frequently with distinguishing word.
ΚΠ
1879 Australasian (Melbourne) 27 Dec. 827/3 In the various groups and borders throughout the grounds hydrangeas, dahlias, grewia (African star bush), yucca (Adam's needle), spiræas, salvias, and other interesting plants are now in flower.
1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants 201 Grewia occidentalis, African Star-bush.
1995 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 7 May (Sunshine section) 8 The garden opens out to a variety of grevillea, day lilies with yellow-green and burgundy/gold blooms, a thriving ponytail palm..and a lavender star bush.
2012 J. Murphy & B. Dowling Plants of Victorian High Country 99 Asterolasia trymalioides, alpine star-bush.
star cucumber n. an annual herbaceous vine Sicyos angulatus (family Cucurbitaceae) native to eastern North America.
ΚΠ
1848 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. 144 Sícyos, L. One-seeded Star-Cucumber.
1925 Amer. Midland Naturalist 9 382 Among vines there was also trumpet-creeper, in pod, and star-cucumber.
2001 J. B. Moyle & E. W. Moyle Northland Wildflowers (rev. ed.) 60 The Bur or Star Cucumber (Sicyos angulatus) is a fairly common herbaceous vine of moist, shady places.
star hyacinth n. (a) any of several bulbous perennial plants of the genus Scilla (family Asparagaceae) which bloom in early spring and are cultivated for their blue stellate flowers, esp. S. amoena; (b) an autumnal flowering plant Prospero autumnale (family Asparagaceae) native to the Mediterranean and Great Britain, having blue or purple stellate flowers. [Apparently after post-classical Latin Hyacinthus stellaris (1586 or earlier) and Hyacinthus stellatus (1597 or earlier: compare quot. 1597); compare Dutch sterhyacinth (1644). Although the post-classical Latin name is given as Hyacinthus stellatus Fuchsii in early sources, this apparently refers to the fact that L. Fuchs (1501–66) described the plant, no similar name having been traced in his work.]
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. lxx. 98 Likewise we haue another sort in our London gardens of this starry Hyacinths, like vnto the Hyacinths of Fuchsius description.]
1670 J. Ray Catalogus Plantarum Angliæ 173 Hyacinthus stellatus Fuchsii Ger.... Small Vernal Star-Hyacinth.
1758 W. Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornwall 233 Lesser autumnal star-hyacinth.
1814 J. Evans Picture of Bristol 148 Scilla, autumnalis. Autumnal squil, or star hyacinth, near the Limekiln on Clifton-hill.
1909 L. H. Soutar Monthly Gleanings in Sc. Garden 30 The star hyacinth Scilla prœcox (sibirica) had burst its fat sheaths, and the lovely ultramarine blue of the flower was peeping out.
2012 Lippincott's Man. Toxicol. lxii. 410 (table) Star hyacinth. Scilla amoena. [Toxins/Effects] Cardiac glycosides.
star jasmine n. a woody climbing plant bearing fragrant, tubular white flowers, Trachelospermum jasminoides (family Apocynaceae), native to Asia but widely cultivated in gardens.
ΚΠ
1809 T. Lomax Let. 30 Oct. in E. Betts T. Jefferson's Garden Bk. (1999) 417 I have also sent some of the Star-Jasmine.
1918 W. Trelease Winter Bot. 325 The star jasmine or jessamine..gets its common name from its star-shaped very fragrant flowers.
2014 Good Housek. Apr. 167/2 Trachelospermum asiaticum... It's good for pots or borders, trained up a wall or an obelisk—and hardier than the star jasmine.
star magnolia n. an ornamental shrub or small tree native to Japan, Magnolia stellata, bearing large, star-shaped, white or pink flowers in early spring.
ΚΠ
1881 Garden 7 May 462/1 A new star Magnolia (M. stellata), which flowered in a very small state.
1950 Science 2 June 611/2 Among the plants used were azalea.., bridal wreath spirea, lilac, star magnolia , and saucer magnolia.
2002 Horticulture Nov. 14/2 The seeds of star magnolia (M. stellata ) are borne in a cone-shaped fruit.
ΚΠ
1862 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 10 198 Star or Bitter Pepper (Xanthoxylum (Oxyactis) Danielli, Benn.).
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 862/1 [Pepper], star, Xanthoxylon Daniellii.
star plum n. either of two tropical trees of the genus Chrysophyllum (family Sapotaceae), C. oliviforme and C. cainito; the fruit of such a tree; cf. star apple n.
ΚΠ
1830 J. D. Maycock Flora Barbadensis 109 Chrysophyllum..monopyrenum... Damson-Plum... Star-Plum.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) 446 Star-plum (Chrysophillum monopyrenum). A kind of star-apple, also called a Barbadoes Damson plum.
1921 Jrnl. Econ. Entomol. 14 470 The Mango Shield Scale..is also found in Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua, Trinidad, Jamaica, and British Guiana where it infests in addition to the host plants mentioned in Florida the breadfruit, Jasminum, Ixora, star plum, star apple and the nutmeg.
2004 D. F. Austin Florida Ethnobot. 331 C[hrysophyllum] cainito is called..star apple (Florida to Guyana), star plum, sterappel (star apple, Dutch Antilles).
star primula n. a variety of Chinese primrose, Primula sinensis var. stellata (family Primulaceae).
ΚΠ
1897 Gardeners' Chron. 30 Jan. 72/3 Primula sinensis stellata, known commonly as Sutton's Star Primula, which was one mass of white flowers, with occasionally a flake of crimson in the star-like blossoms.
1915 H. H. Thomas Greenhouse, its Flowers & Managem. v. 36 The Stellata or Star Primulas are best for amateurs, for they are easily grown, of graceful growth, and flower for a longer period than the others.
1964 Gardeners' Chron. 9 May 426/3 The star primulas or stellata forms of P. sinensis are even more graceful than the type and, where space will allow, a small batch should be raised each year.
star tulip n. any of several perennial bulbous plants belonging to the North American genus Calochortus (family Liliaceae), having variously coloured flowers with three pointed sepals and three rounded petals covered with hairs on the inner surfaces.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > lily and allied flowers > mariposa lily
butterfly tulip1860
star tulip1860
wild tulip1861
mariposa lily1868
butterfly lily1880
satin bells1897
1860 Hutching's Calif. Mag. May 490 The Golden Star Tulip (Cyclobothra nitida).
1895 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden (ed. 4) ii. 347/2 Other dwarf forms among the Star Tulips lasted well up to the end of June, when the beautiful Mariposa Lilies continued the display with their tall spikes.
1921 M. Hampden Bulb Gardening xvii. 185 Every garden should contain Calochorti... They consist of three groups, but I consider two only fit for the amateur gardener's patronage; these are known as Mariposa, or Butterfly Tulips, and Star Tulips.
1974 H. G. W. Fogg Compl. Handbk. Bulbs vii. 49/2 Of those described as star tulips, C[alochortus] benthami, clear yellow with dark central blotch, and C. maweanus ‘Major’..are among the finest.
2003 N. Harlow & K. Jakob Wild Lilies, Irises, & Grasses ii. 51 The genus Calochortus includes the relatively familiar tall mariposa lilies and an assortment of lower-growing plants commonly known as globe lilies or fairy lanterns, cat's ears, and star tulips.
b.
(a) In names for a gelatinous material found on the ground, vegetation, etc., once popularly supposed to result from the fall of meteors (see star jelly n.), as †star-fallen, †star-falling, star-slough, †star-slubber, †star-slutch. See also star shot n. Now chiefly historical.Now generally identified as colonies of the cyanobacteria Nostoc. See further star jelly n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > [noun] > nostoc
star slime1440
slime1471
nostoc?1609
star shot1653
star1666
star jelly1702
shot star1811
witches' meat1849
will-o'-the-wisp1863
witches' butter1922
1666 C. Merrett Pinax Rerum Naturalium Britannicarum 219 Est substantia quaedam alba & glutinosa plurimis in locis conspicua quam nostrates star faln nuncupant.
1691–2 J. Dunton Athenian Oracle (1728) I. 363/1 Whether there be any Jelly, or as some call it, Star-slough, or according to others, Star-shoot, that falls down from the middle region of the air, we shan't be positive.
1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. 353 That gelatinous Body call'd Star-Gelly, Star-shot, or Star-fall'n, so named because vulgarly believ'd to fall from a Star.
1757 W. Watson in Philos. Trans. 1756 (Royal Soc.) 49 860 Our country people call it Tar-slough [? read Star-slough] and some of them, as it is principally seen after rain, suppose..that it drops from the clouds.
1781 J. Hutton Tour to Caves (ed. 2) Gloss. 96 Starslubber, frog spawn.
1791 Gentleman's Mag. May 467 Tremella Nostoch..is in that county [Cheshire] called star-slutch.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 80 Star-slough.
1851 T. Sternberg Dial. & Folk-lore Northants. 105 Star-shot, star-jelly, star-falling, masses of clear viscid and tenacious matter, often found in fields, or on the tops of hedges, &c, so called from its being supposed by the country people to fall from the stars.
2005 Guardian 13 Jan. (Life section) 10/5 This [1846] description of a spectacular meteorite fall is a fine example of the phenomenon named by Welsh shepherds, pwdre (sometimes powdre) ser or ‘the rot of the stars’ and also known as star slough, star shot, star spawn or star jelly.
(b)
star slime n. historical = star jelly n.
ΚΠ
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 474 Sterre slyme, assub.
1591 Ripley's Compound Alchymy v. sig. F3 Some sought it [sc. the philosophers' stone] in dung, in vrine, some in wine, Some in starre slyme (for thing it is but one).
?1609 J. Healey tr. Bp. J. Hall Discouery New World iii. 146 Vineger, Xifinium. Star-slime, Nostoch. Iupiter, Cydar.
1757 T. Birch Hist. Royal Soc. IV. 278 Dr. Lister conceived, that star-slime is nothing but frogs dissolved and putrified in the air.
1878 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Star-slime.
1949 Countryman Autumn 172/2 This whitish, jelly-like substance, sometimes known as star-slime.., may be found lying on the ground in grassy open spaces.
2008 Irish News (Nexis) 22 Jan. 3 It's supposed to be something to do with meteor showers. I know star jelly inspired The Blob in the 1950s and it is known also as ‘star slime’ and a load of other names.
C8. Mineralogy. Forming the names of gemstones which exhibit asterism, as star diamond, †star gem, star quartz, star ruby, star sapphire; cf. star stone n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > rock crystal > [noun] > chalcedony > cat's eye
cat's-eye1588
star gem1693
sunstone1794
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > gem or precious stone > [noun] > exhibiting asterism
star stone1652
star sapphire1798
1693 S. Dale Pharmacologia 100 Asteria gemma, Offic. The Bastard-Opal or Star-Gemm.
1798 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 88 448 When the reflection is compounded of rays which intersect each other, and appear to diverge from a common centre, I call them star-stones..or star-sapphires.
1874 D. Page Econ. Geol. xvii. 276 There are other varieties, such as asteriated (star-quartz), avanturine (spangled-quartz), &c. used for ornamental purposes.
1976 Sci. Amer. Apr. 94/2 A type of opal new to us has recently been mined near Spencer, Idaho. It is a star opal that shows streaks of colour in symmetrically arranged angular patterns similar to the rays of a star sapphire.
2012 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 8 Jan. b4 (advt.) Star sapphires and star rubies are gems of rare beauty.
Derivatives
starwise adv. in the form of the figure of a star (cf. sense 10a); so as to form a star shape.
ΚΠ
1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus at Decussatio A deuision cutte, sawen, or carued after the forme of foure lines drawen a crosse by one center sterrewise, so that it maketh eyght euen portions.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 165 Six little cannons set in starre wise.
1795 M. Underwood Treat. Dis. Children (ed. 3) II. i. 92 Three or four strips of adhesive plaister, applied star-wise.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 681/2 Each chromatophore-cell has from six to ten muscular bands attached to its walls, radiating from it star-wise.
1999 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 11 Feb. 17 Seven clove-red carnations..wrapped starwise in sturdy brown paper with a rural-looking raffia tie.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
starn.2
/stɑː/, U.S. /stɑr/, Scottish English /star/ Scottish and English regional (chiefly northern and East Anglian) in later use. Now rare.
Any of various coarse seaside grasses and sedges, esp. Ammophila arenaria (family Poaceae) and Carex arenaria (family Cyperaceae). Cf. star-grass n.2
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > names applied to various aquatic grasses
starc1300
flaga1387
water grass1585
sword-grass1598
spire-grass1626
star-grass1782
slough grass1861
slough hay1934
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > sedges
starc1300
carexa1398
float-grassc1440
red sedge1480
sag1531
pry grassa1600
flea-grass1670
star-grass1782
sedge1785
sea sedge1796
sharp-pry-grass1803
blue star grass1807
whip-grass1814
flea-sedge1816
saw-grass1822
mud rush1824
tight-locka1825
nut grass1830
razor grass1834
twig-rush1836
nut rush1843
sand grass1856
mud sedge1859
niggerhead1859
nutsedge1861
pingao1867
sword-rush1875
tupak-grass1884
tussock-sedge1884
sennegrass1897
nigger's-head1921
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 939 He bar þe turues, he bar þe star.
1322 Bolton Priory Compotus (2000) 500 Pro starre empt' et cariat' ad grangiam de Penisthorp' v.s.
a1400 Cartulary York Minster (Claud. B.iii) f. 194 Item in Marisco potest Dominus habere Stair, pro coopertura domorum.
1419–20 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 147 Et in iiij carect. de Star empt. cum car. ejusdem.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 64 Cegge, or stare [?a1475 Winch. starre], carix.
1712 N. Blundell Diary (1895) 100 As I was going to my Setters of Star to hinder ye Sand from recking up my Grand Watercourse.
1742 Act 15 Geo. II c. 33 §6 A certain Rush or Shrub called Starr or Bent.
1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 560 [Carex cæspitosa] Turfy-pink-leav'd Carex. Anglis. Starr. Scotis.
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words at Bent Bent or Starr.
1881 W. Gregor Notes Folk-lore N.-E. Scotl. ix. 51 A bunch of stars or bruckles to redd the tobacco pipes.
a1897 J. Macdonald Place Names W. Aberd. (1899) 308 In this part of the country the name Starrs is applied to rushes.
1906 H. Hunter in Golf Greens & Green-keeping iv. 61 Our greatest pest in the way of weeds is the ‘star’, or, as it is generally known, the ‘Brancaster weed’.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 290/2 Star, 1. Sedge. (L. Carex vulgaris) 2. See Bents. 3. The moss rush.
2011 Jrnl. Coastal Conservation 15 231/1 The most effective dune grass, Ammophilia arenaria (common names: starr, bent, marram, sea rush) is relatively unpalatable to livestock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† starn.3
Obsolete. rare.
1. Perhaps: a crack or fissure in the skin. Cf. chop n.1 6a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > chap or crack
rhagadesOE
chap1398
chine1398
rupture?a1425
chapping1540
rift1543
chame1559
cleft1576
chop1578
crepature1582
cone1584
chink1597
fent1597
chawn1601
star1607
hacka1610
kin1740
sand-crack1895
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 28 If any be hurt by the starres, wash them in asses stale, mingled with Spiknard.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 654 The dust of lambs bones is very much..vsed for Vlcers which haue no chops or stars in them.
2. Perhaps: a nodule or swelling (on the leg of a horse). Cf. bunch n.1 1a, 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > disorders of legs > caused by tumours > tumour
spavin1426
ringbonec1465
blood spavin?1523
curb?1523
serew?1523
splint?1523
thorough-serewe?1523
thorough spavin?1523
windgall?1523
bone spavin1566
boneshavea1585
grape1600
surot1601
hough-bony1607
lichen1607
gorge1610
bog-spavin1631
splint-bone1704
splinter1704
star1710
fuseec1720
jardonc1720
osseletc1720
jarde1727
thorough-pin1789
1710 London Gaz. No. 4768/4 A Star or Bunch, with no Hair on it, on the far Leg behind.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
starv.
/stɑː/, U.S. /stɑr/ 1. † a. transitive. To mark (a horse) with a mark resembling a star (cf. star n.1 8). Obsolete. rare.† c. transitive. To decorate with the star of an order of knighthood, etc. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [verb (transitive)] > brand
star1591
1591 R. Greene Second Pt. Conny-catching sig. Av They will straight spotte him by sundry pollicies, and in a blacke horse, marke saddle spots, or starre him in the forehead.
b. transitive. To adorn or decorate as though with stars; to spangle, speckle. Also with over, round, and other adverbs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > ornament [verb (transitive)] > ornament with stars
stellify1426
star1592
bestar1612
instar1652
1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) vii. xxxvii. 164 Thear lacketh not of noble Births to star the courtly Skies.
1608 E. Topsell tr. Ovid in Hist. Serpents 277 And like his spotted hiew, so is his name, The body starred ouer like drops of rayne.
1661 S. Pordage Mundorum Explicatio 255 There 'twas as if the flowers conspired had To starr the place.
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. i. 326 His Sceptre starr'd with golden Studs around.
1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus Supplicants in tr. Æschylus Tragedies 88 An herdsman..starr'd round with eyes... The earth-born Argus.
1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iii. iii. 109 Blooms Which star the winds with points of coloured light.
1885 B. Harte Maruja iii. 64 Pretty women, with roses starring their dark hair.
1921 Aberdeen Daily Jrnl. 13 Aug. 4/3 There are fields starred over with rich blossoms of the white clover and yellow buttercups.
2007 Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet June 2/1 The hem of her robe was starred with seedheads.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > symbol of rank > decorate [verb (transitive)]
star1845
1845 B. Disraeli Sybil II. iv. xi. 273 And now he is a quasi ambassador, and ribboned, and starred to the chin.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > celestial sphere > zone of celestial sphere > [verb (intransitive)] > be in ascendant
star1592
predominate1598
predomine1607
horoscopate1647
1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) vii. xxxvi. 154 Dull mal-contented Saturne rulde the houre when I was borne: Had Iupiter then starr'd I had not liued now forlorne.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [verb (transitive)] > stellify
stellifyc1384
instar1592
star1606
starrify1640
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)] > in form or appearance
makec1175
transfigurea1340
transformc1340
overcasta1387
translatea1393
shapec1400
resolvea1450
transfigurate?a1475
fashion1528
converta1530
to bless into1534
redact1554
trans-shape1575
deduce1587
star1606
deducta1627
Pythagorize1631
to run into ——a1640
transpeciate1643
transmogrify1656
throw1824
transfeature1875
squirm1876
recontour1913
1606 T. Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me sig. Dv They haue starred teares into my eyes.
1610 G. Fletcher Christs Victorie 75 The seeling gay, Starred aloft the guilded knobs embraue.
1819 J. H. Wiffen Aonian Hours (1820) 96 His love he told, A feeling pity in her eyes was starred.
4. intransitive. Metallurgy. Of antimony: to form a starlike pattern of radially arranged crystals upon cooling from the molten state, indicative of its purity; cf. star n.1 11c. Also transitive: to refine (antimony), esp. to the point at which it exhibits such a starlike pattern; to produce such starlike patterns on the surface of (antimony). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > base metals [verb (intransitive)] > of antimony: form stars when solidifying
stara1727
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > refine > by specific method
calcinec1386
calcinate1559
calcinize1606
cupel1644
decrepitate1646
scorify1755
cupellate18..
retort1850
liquate1864
star1886
zone-refine1962
zone level1974
zone-melt1982
a1727 I. Newton in B. J. T. Dobbs Found. Newton's Alchemy (1975) 250 Wth a good quick & smart fire 4 of ♂ to 9 of ♁ gave a most black & filthy scoria & ye Reg after a purgation or two starred very well.
1886 Engin. & Mining Jrnl. 23 Oct. 291/2 The process of ‘starring’ the metal, in order to satisfy the fancy of consumers, is effected successfully.
1890 T. E. Thorpe Dict. Appl. Chem. I. 182/1 The presence of a relatively small percentage of impurities in the metal will prevent it from ‘starring’.
1917 Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Metals 11 104 Herrenschmidt claims to have a process of reduction in crucibles, in which it is possible to smelt and refine or ‘star’ the metal in one operation.
1945 D. M. Liddell Handbk. Nonferrous Metall. II. 134 A procedure, as adopted by W. Brazenall for starring the regulus produced, is as follows.
5.
a. transitive. To make a radiating crack or fracture in (a surface of glass, ice, etc.). Cf. star n.1 17.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (transitive)] > crack (but not break)
crazec1386
crack1609
flaw1665
star1787
mill1825
1787 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 269/1 The hail-stones were literally as big as horse beans...I had, out of thirty-fix panes of glass, nine shattered to pieces, five starred in many places, and eleven cracked different ways.
1813 Mrs. Piozzi in Jrnls. & Corr. T. S. Whalley (1863) II. 364 The ice is starred, as skaters call it, by the fall of the French in Spain.
1824 Mechanic's Mag. No. 19. 300 A pane of window-glass, perforated completely through..without the glass being, as it is technically called, starred.
1873 Chambers's Jrnl. 30 Aug. 547/2 The next [pebble]..not only hit the window, but starred one of the panes with a loud crash.
1884 Manch. Examiner 19 Dec. 5/2 As the granite around the hole is starred in all directions, it is Major Majendie's opinion that a large quantity of dynamite was used.
1955 A. MacLean H.M.S. Ulysses vi. 106 The ice-laden storm..had starred and abraded the plate glass until it was completely opaque.
1998 M. Booth Industry of Souls v. 100 The windscreen was cracked right across and starred by stones.
b. intransitive. To become fractured in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > breaking or cracking > break [verb (intransitive)] > crack, split, or cleave
chinea700
to-chinec725
cleavea1225
to-cleavec1275
rivec1330
to-slentc1380
to-sundera1393
cracka1400
rifta1400
chapc1420
crevec1450
break1486
slave?1523
chink1552
chop1576
coame1577
cone1584
slat1607
cleft1610
splita1625
checka1642
chicka1642
flaw1648
shale1712
vent1721
spalt1731
star1842
seam1880
tetter1911
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 368/1 The iron of which vessels is composed has been found to become brittle in the course of years, so that..it will..star like glass when struck by a hard and sharp body.
1894 Athenæum 3 Mar. 282/1 Sir J. Evans suggested that the meaning of this was ‘I will not star’, or crack, like a glass bottle.
1962 Which? July 98/2 Laminated glass..merely ‘stars’ around the point of impact.
2013 W. Smith Vicious Circle 29 Even the shatterproof glass window could not resist the tremendous blow that he delivered from on high. The glass starred and sagged in its frame.
6. † b. transitive. To provide or employ star entertainers for. Obsolete. rare.† c. transitive. To tour (various places) as the star of a theatre company; esp. in to star the provinces. Also in extended use. Obsolete.
a.
(a) intransitive. To perform as a star (star n.1 4c); to take a leading role in a play, film, etc.; (originally) to tour as the star of a theatre company. Also (and in earliest use) transitive with it.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > be or become eminent [verb (intransitive)]
shinec900
to get (also make) oneself a nameOE
blazea1387
flourisha1387
resound1562
to fame ita1625
to make a noise in the world1662
to make (familiarly to cut) a figure1691
to set the Thames on fire1720
star1815
lionize1834
to make a name for oneself1997
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performer > appear as performer [verb (intransitive)] > be star performer
star1815
co-star1896
to have (also get) one's name in lights1918
1815 J. Hutton Fashionable Follies Pref. p. viii A man, that had starred it all over America.
1817 Theatr. Inquisitor May 394 Our worthy Manager and his daughter, (to use a theatrical phrase) are now starring, in Mr. Crisps company.
1891 R. Ford Thistledown xvi. 298 He attaches himself to a band of strolling players, and ‘stars’ it through part of the country of Fife.
1916 National Cycl. Amer. Biogr. XV. 51/1 Returning to America, he starred for three years with Marion Manola, then the queen of comic opera.
1962 N. Streatfeild Apple Bough xviii. 255 Wolfgang put on his showing-off voice... ‘I'm starring in this new picture.’
2012 Time Out N.Y. 16 Feb. 54/3 Henry Fonda stars in one of the best, least didactic ‘issue pictures’ made by old Hollywood.
(b) intransitive. figurative and in extended use.
ΚΠ
1852 J. L. Motley Let. 13 Apr. in Corr. (1889) I. v. 129 I don't know where he [sc. the sun] is, probably engaged elsewhere, starring it in some more profitable region.
1887 T. H. Huxley Let. 18 Jan. in Life & Lett. (1901) II. x. 161 I have been ‘starring’ at the Mansion House.
1893 Bookman June 86/1 This Russian baroness..starring it in Russian embassies and Paris salons.
1972 N.Y. Mag. 7 Feb. 8/3 The police sergeant who blew the whistle on corruption and starred at the Knapp commission hearings.
2007 Irish Times (Nexis) 1 Feb. 13 Sarkozy starred in what his aides billed as the first French presidential campaign rally abroad.
(c) intransitive. Sport. To perform exceptionally well; to be an outstanding player in a team.
ΚΠ
1914 Manitoba Free Press 12 Mar. 7/2 The Mackenzie brothers starred on the wing.
1972 J. Mosedale Football viii. 116 Turner..starred from 1940 through 1952.
2014 Lowell (Mass.) Sun (Nexis) 30 Dec. Whalen starred as the quarterback for the legendary 1967 undefeated football team at Lowell High School.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > perform [verb (transitive)] > provide with stars
star1831
1831 Lincoln Herald 7 Oct. 4 We were extremely sorry to see so thin a house: sad encouragement for the manager in starring the season.
ΚΠ
1849 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis (1850) I. xx. 189 She..had starred the provinces with great éclat.
1888 Centennial Mag. (Austral.) Sept. 84/1 When Mr. Creswick was starring the colonies she played her first speaking part.
1920 Nation 21 Aug. 202/1 One wonders if Mr. Debs or Mr. Christensen, only the latter of whom, unfortunately, is free to star the provinces, will be able to say anything that will make the campaign seem real.
1924 M. J. Moses Representative Continental Dramas 200 Madame Arcádina evidently starred the provinces in the principal rôles of the famous Sávina.
d. transitive. To give top billing or a leading role to (an actor or other entertainer); to advertise or feature as a star.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > perform [verb (transitive)] > bring (performer) before the public > present as star
star1852
co-star1897
1852 G. A. Sala in Househ. Words 22 July 565/2 He [sc. a tenor] fell into the hands of a speculator who ‘starred’ him at Paris, and Milan and Venice.
1895 G. B. Shaw Let. 27 Mar. (1965) I. 508 It is good business to star Janet.
1936 Amer. Speech 11 220 Is the actor to be starred or merely featured? If starred, the program, the signs outside the theater, and all advertising will read, ‘X in Hamlet’. If featured, it will be, ‘Hamlet with X’.
1972 Alcalde (Univ. Texas) July 16/3 In 1932, he was starred in Lone Star Rangers, his first network radio assignment and the first cowboy program to hit New York.
2013 Ukiah (Calif.) Daily Jrnl. 19 Mar. a3/2 MacMurray is soon to begin work on another picture in which he will be starred with Claudette Colbert.
e. transitive. Of a film, play, etc.: to have (an actor) in a leading role; to feature as a star.
ΚΠ
1922 Washington Post 14 Dec. 10/3 The play stars Margaret Lawrence.
1962 E. Albee Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? i. 5 Chicago was a 'thirties musical, starring little Miss Alice Faye.
2014 Radio Times 22 Feb. (South/West ed.) 48/1 A bawdy, foul-mouthed film written by and starring women ought not to have made headlines in 2011.
7. transitive. To distinguish (a word, name, etc.) with a star or asterisk. Also in extended use: to single out for special notice or recommendation.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > punctuate [verb (transitive)] > asterisk, etc.
asteriska1734
star1827
1827 Gardener's Mag. 2 105 I wonder indeed that members of a (professedly) liberal society should quietly submit to be classed and regulated, and starred and scheduled, like the items in a paper of assessed taxes.
1897 Daily News 29 July 3/1 He maintained that..if the Government meant to proceed with these Bills they ought to have ‘starred’ them, meaning that an asterisk should be placed by them on the Order Paper.
1913 J. M. Jones Welsh Gram. p. xxvii The form need not have been starred.
1922 J. Brown & J. Boyd Hist. San Bernardino & Riverside Counties II. 824 The Mission Inn of Riverside,..starred by Baedeker as one of the world's greatest hotels.
1960 P. J. Hilton & S. Wylie Homology Theory Gen. Introd. p. xiii As a further guide to the reader we have adopted the devices (i) of starring certain sections or parts of sections; and (ii) of putting some material in small type.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Sept. ii. 78/2 Hard-core opera fans have already starred their calendars for Aprile Millo's Carnegie Hall appearance.
8. intransitive. Billiards. In the game of pool (pool n.3 2(a)): to buy an additional life or lives, by paying into the pool the same sum as one's original stake. Similarly in Dominoes. Also transitive: to buy (a certain number of lives) in this way. Cf. star n.1 21. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [verb (intransitive)] > actions or types of play
carambole1775
string1814
cannon1825
to make a baulk1839
star1839
push1851
to play for safety1857
run1857
carom1860
to knock the balls about1864
miscue1889
snooker1889
break1893
break1893
scratch1909
to call one's shot1953
1839 E. Kentfield Game of Billiards 42 The first person who loses his three lives, is entitled to purchase, or, as it is called, to star (that being the mark placed against his lives on the board to denote that he has purchased) by paying into the pool the same sum as at the commencement.
1863 G. F. Pardon Hoyle's Games Modernized 401 The owner of the ball first struck has the option of starring.
?1870 F. Hardy & J. R. Ware Mod. Hoyle , Dominoes 100 He who ‘stars’ re-commences at the number which the player holds who is in the worst position.
1875 G. F. Pardon in Encycl. Brit. III. 677/1 The first player who loses all his three lives can ‘star’; that is, by paying into the pool a sum equal to his original stake, he is entitled to as many lives as the lowest number on the marking board. Thus if the lowest number be two, he stars two.
1923 L. H. Dawson Hoyle's Games Modernized (new ed.) iii. 343 The option of starring belongs to the owner of the ball first struck.
a1990 N. Clare Billiards & Snooker Bygones (1996) (new ed.) 25/2 If his ball was pocketed a third time the slide was moved to show the third disc, and having lost his three lives he was now out of the game unless he elected to ‘star’ by paying another stake.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > vein > [verb (transitive)] > radiating veins
star1839
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. i. xx. 261 The highly inclined and dislocated strata of purple schist and sandstone..are starred through in many directions by veins of white crystallized quartz.
1874 Geol. Mag. 2nd Decade 1 273 They convey the impression of having been cracks in the already consolidated surface [of the Moon], starred by internal expansion, from which liquid matter has exuded throughout their whole length.
1902 Proc. Yorks. Geol. & Polytechnic Soc. 14 284 In the Tertiary period another great volcanic outburst had taken place... This outburst starred the rocks for long distances, and the cracks produced were filled by basaltic rocks.
10. intransitive. To extend or disperse in different directions from a central point, in a manner resembling the rays of a star. Frequently with adverbial complement.
ΚΠ
1886 Treat. Manuf. Guns (ed. 3) iv. i. 316 Hair-lines or cracks may possibly be discovered starring out in any direction.
1897 E. D. Cuming With Jungle Folk i. 1 A bunch of thin coir ropes tied round a bamboo..starred away like limp telegraph lines on the poles which carried them over the paddy.
1916 R. Kipling Sea Warfare 165 The German fleet..seems to have scattered—‘starred’, I believe, is the word for the evolution—in a general sauve qui peut.
1967 Threshold Summer 62 The first shovelful fell quietly slowly downwards, and burst starring outwards below on the purple quilt.
1980 A. Fullerton Last Lift from Crete i. 10 A great shoot of fire, vertical at first but starring outwards.
Phrases
cant and Criminals' slang. to star the glaze: to cut or break the glass of a window, display case, etc., in order to carry out a robbery. Cf. sense 5a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > robbery > rob [verb (intransitive)] > smash and grab
to star the glaze1777
1777 Thieving Detected 41 It is almost useless to mention, that the instrument made use of in Starring the Glaze is a glazier's diamond.
1828 Courier 4 Oct. Charles Thorogood, one of the city constables, swore positively that he saw the prisoner Simpson ‘star the glaze’ (crack the glass).
1865 Express 7 Apr. 2/6 Robberies by ‘starring the glaze’ have of late been very frequent.
1926 Devon & Exeter Daily Gaz. 23 June 5/5 One of them withdrew a pane of glass with a knife—‘starring the glaze’, as it was expressed in their jargon—and then put in his hand to catch hold of the padlock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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