CELESTIAL BODY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does celestial body mean? 

• CELESTIAL BODY (noun)
  The noun CELESTIAL BODY has 1 sense:

1. natural objects visible in the sky

  Familiarity information: CELESTIAL BODY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CELESTIAL BODY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Natural objects visible in the sky

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

celestial body; heavenly body

Hypernyms ("celestial body" is a kind of...):

natural object (an object occurring naturally; not made by man)

Domain member category:

scintillate; twinkle; winkle (emit or reflect light in a flickering manner)

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

minor planet; planetoid (any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun)

major planet; planet ((astronomy) any of the nine large celestial bodies in the solar system that revolve around the sun and shine by reflected light; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in order of their proximity to the sun; viewed from the constellation Hercules, all the planets rotate around the sun in a counterclockwise direction)

planet (any celestial body (other than comets or satellites) that revolves around a star)

planetesimal (one of many small solid celestial bodies thought to have existed at an early stage in the development of the solar system)

primary ((astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it)

quasar; quasi-stellar radio source (a starlike object that may send out radio waves and other forms of energy; many have large red shifts)

satellite (any celestial body orbiting around a planet or star)

star ((astronomy) a celestial body of hot gases that radiates energy derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior)

star (any celestial body visible (as a point of light) from the Earth at night)

Holonyms ("celestial body" is a part of...):

cosmos; creation; existence; macrocosm; universe; world (everything that exists anywhere)

 Context examples 

Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial atmosphere and the only celestial body other than our planet where stable bodies of surface liquid are known to still exist.

(Dust Storms on Titan Spotted for the First Time, NASA)

While either the land surface or the Sun can serve as the background, using a celestial body is simpler and cheaper because the camera can be located on the ground rather than on a second airplane.

(Seeing Shock Waves, EARTH OBSERVATORY)

Over time, Mars' gravitational pull would have pulled that moon toward the planet until it reached the Roche limit, the distance within which a planet's tidal forces will break apart a celestial body that is held together only by gravity.

(Does Mars Have Rings? Not Right Now, But Maybe One Day, NASA)