ASTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does aster mean? 

• ASTER (noun)
  The noun ASTER has 2 senses:

1. any of various chiefly fall-blooming herbs of the genus Aster with showy daisylike flowers

2. star-shaped structure formed in the cytoplasm of a cell having fibers like rays that surround the centrosome during mitosis

  Familiarity information: ASTER used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various chiefly fall-blooming herbs of the genus Aster with showy daisylike flowers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("aster" is a kind of...):

flower (a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "aster"):

Schreiber's aster; crooked-stemmed aster; Eastern silvery aster; flat-topped white aster; late purple aster; panicled aster; perennial salt marsh aster; purple-stemmed aster; rough-leaved aster; rush aster; bog aster; small white aster; smooth aster; southern aster; calico aster; starved aster; tradescant's aster; wavy-leaved aster; Western silvery aster; willow aster (a variety of aster)

Aster novi-belgii; Michaelmas daisy; New York aster (North American perennial herb having small autumn-blooming purple or pink or white flowers; widely naturalized in Europe)

wood aster (any of several asters of eastern North America usually growing in woods)

Aster acuminatus; whorled aster (North American perennial with apparently whorled leaves and showy white purple-tinged flowers)

Aster arenosus; heath aster (common North American perennial with heathlike foliage and small white flower heads)

Aster dumosus; bushy aster (stiff perennial of the eastern United States having small linear leaves and numerous tiny white flower heads)

Aster ericoides; heath aster (common much-branched North American perennial with heathlike foliage and small starry white flowers)

Aster falcatus; white prairie aster (perennial of western North America having white flowers)

Aster linarifolius; stiff aster (wiry tufted perennial of the eastern United States with stiff erect rough stems, linear leaves and large violet flowers)

Aster linosyris; goldilocks; goldilocks aster; Linosyris vulgaris (early-flowering perennial of southern and southeastern Europe with flower heads resembling those of goldenrod)

Aster novae-angliae; New England aster (common perennial of eastern North America having showy purplish flowers; a parent of the Michaelmas daisy)

Aster ptarmicoides; upland white aster (tufted rigid North American perennial with loose clusters of white flowers)

Aster shortii; Short's aster (perennial of southeastern United States having usually blue flowers)

Aster tripolium; sea aster; sea starwort (a common European aster that grows in salt marshes)

Aster turbinellis; prairie aster (violet-flowered perennial aster of central United States having solitary heads)

annual salt-marsh aster; aromatic aster; arrow leaved aster; azure aster (a variety of aster)

Holonyms ("aster" is a member of...):

genus Aster (large genus of herbs widely cultivated for their daisylike flowers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Star-shaped structure formed in the cytoplasm of a cell having fibers like rays that surround the centrosome during mitosis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("aster" is a kind of...):

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure (a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement)

 Context examples 

Aster promoting activities stabilize microtubules during spindle formation, but binding of importins to APA neutralizes their activity in forming microtubules.

(Mitotic Spindle Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The third phase of mitosis during which the two groups of daughter chromosomes separate and move along the fibers of the central spindle, each toward one of the asters, forming the diaster.

(Anaphase, NCI Thesaurus)

Goldenrod and asters fringed the mossy walls.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Aster promoting activities (APA) and the importin-alpha and importin-beta proteins involved with Ran in nucleocytoplasmic transport are also involved in mitotic spindle formation.

(Mitotic Spindle Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)