asteroid
1 of 2noun
as·ter·oid ˈa-stə-ˌrȯid 
1
: any of the small rocky celestial bodies found especially between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
2
: starfish
asteroidal
ˌa-stə-ˈrȯi-dᵊl
adjective asteroid
2 of 2adjective
1
: resembling a star
asteroid bodies in sporotrichosis
2
: of or resembling a starfish
Example Sentences
Noun Most asteroids are found between Mars and Jupiter.
Recent Examples on the Web
Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 Aug. 2022 He was not involved in this research but agreed that it was probably caused by an asteroid. Katie Hunt, CNN, 17 Aug. 2022 The Lucy asteroid mission, in turn, takes its name from the famed fossil. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2022 Later, another asteroid strike formed the Karratha crater millions of years ago, sending Black Beauty hurtling through Mars gravity toward Africa. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2022 When making repairs to their space shuttle, two astronauts are sent hurtling into space by an asteroid. Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 12 Apr. 2022 Today, these perfectly circular features on the lunar surface are known to be caused by asteroid and comet impacts. Charles Cockell, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2022 That’s because the tiny moon is orbiting too close to its parent asteroid. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 27 Aug. 2022 One CubeSat, called NEA Scout, will travel to a near-Earth asteroid using energy harvested by solar sails. Nadia Drake, Scientific American, 24 Aug. 2022 Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 27 June 2022 According to Kruk, there is a lot of diversity in the asteroid trails picked up by Hubble. Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 16 May 2022 And token owners will have the right to purchase the ore, and other resources, like water, from the asteroid mining activities. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 22 July 2022 To fill out Black Beauty’s history, the team first studied both the rock itself and asteroid events on Mars. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2022 Back in 2020, NASA sent a small spacecraft known as OSIRIS-REx to collect samples from the asteroid Bennu. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 8 July 2022 Problematically, Psyche's launch included a ride-along for a separate asteroid mission called Janus that has its own launch windows, so the review will need to include NASA's entire Discovery Mission program more broadly. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 24 June 2022 That's 20 million years before an asteroid impact wiped out three quarters of life on Earth. Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY, 24 May 2022 Some nations, like China, have proposed plans for asteroid detection systems. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 7 July 2022 See More
Noun
The asteroid Ryugu is located roughly 300 million kilometers from Earth. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 19 Aug. 2022 He was not involved in this research but agreed that it was probably caused by an asteroid. Katie Hunt, CNN, 17 Aug. 2022 The Lucy asteroid mission, in turn, takes its name from the famed fossil. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2022 Later, another asteroid strike formed the Karratha crater millions of years ago, sending Black Beauty hurtling through Mars gravity toward Africa. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2022 When making repairs to their space shuttle, two astronauts are sent hurtling into space by an asteroid. Josh St. Clair, Men's Health, 12 Apr. 2022 Today, these perfectly circular features on the lunar surface are known to be caused by asteroid and comet impacts. Charles Cockell, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2022 That’s because the tiny moon is orbiting too close to its parent asteroid. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 27 Aug. 2022 One CubeSat, called NEA Scout, will travel to a near-Earth asteroid using energy harvested by solar sails. Nadia Drake, Scientific American, 24 Aug. 2022 Adjective
This new moon will be conjunct the asteroid Black Moon Lilith, according to Lisa Stardust, astrologer, and author of The Love Deck. Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com, 27 June 2022 According to Kruk, there is a lot of diversity in the asteroid trails picked up by Hubble. Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 16 May 2022 And token owners will have the right to purchase the ore, and other resources, like water, from the asteroid mining activities. Eric Berger, Ars Technica, 22 July 2022 To fill out Black Beauty’s history, the team first studied both the rock itself and asteroid events on Mars. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2022 Back in 2020, NASA sent a small spacecraft known as OSIRIS-REx to collect samples from the asteroid Bennu. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 8 July 2022 Problematically, Psyche's launch included a ride-along for a separate asteroid mission called Janus that has its own launch windows, so the review will need to include NASA's entire Discovery Mission program more broadly. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 24 June 2022 That's 20 million years before an asteroid impact wiped out three quarters of life on Earth. Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY, 24 May 2022 Some nations, like China, have proposed plans for asteroid detection systems. Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 7 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
Greek asteroeidēs starlike, from aster-, astēr
First Known Use
Noun
1802, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adjective
1824, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Phrases Containing asteroid
Kids Definition
asteroid
noun
as·ter·oid ˈa-stə-ˌrȯid
: one of thousands of rocky objects that move in orbits mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter and have diameters from a fraction of a mile to nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers)
Medical Definition
asteroid
adjective
as·ter·oid ˈas-tə-ˌrȯid
: resembling a star