MINOR PLANET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does minor planet mean? 

• MINOR PLANET (noun)
  The noun MINOR PLANET has 1 sense:

1. any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun

  Familiarity information: MINOR PLANET used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MINOR PLANET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

minor planet; planetoid

Hypernyms ("minor planet" is a kind of...):

celestial body; heavenly body (natural objects visible in the sky)

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

asteroid (any of numerous small celestial bodies composed of rock and metal that move around the sun (mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter))

KBO; Kuiper belt object (any of many minor planets in the Kuiper belt outside the orbit of Neptune at the edge of the solar system)

Instance hyponyms:

Quaoar (a planetoid discovered in 2002)

Sedna (a planetoid of rock and ice about three-quarters the size of Pluto discovered in 2003; the most distant object known to orbit around the sun)

Holonyms ("minor planet" is a member of...):

solar system (the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field)

 Context examples 

With the exception of Ceres, which resides in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, all members of this class of minor planets in our solar system lurk in the depths beyond Neptune.

(2007 OR10: Largest Unnamed World in the Solar System, NASA)