OORT CLOUD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Oort cloud mean? 

• OORT CLOUD (noun)
  The noun OORT CLOUD has 1 sense:

1. (astronomy) a hypothetical huge collection of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto; perturbations (as by other stars) can upset a comet's orbit and may send it tumbling toward the sun

  Familiarity information: OORT CLOUD used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OORT CLOUD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(astronomy) a hypothetical huge collection of comets orbiting the sun far beyond the orbit of Pluto; perturbations (as by other stars) can upset a comet's orbit and may send it tumbling toward the sun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("Oort cloud" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Domain category:

astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)