PLUTO

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Pluto mean? 

• PLUTO (noun)
  The noun PLUTO has 3 senses:

1. a cartoon character created by Walt Disney

2. (Roman mythology) god of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Hades

3. a large asteroid that was once thought to be the farthest known planet from the sun; it has an elliptical orbit

  Familiarity information: PLUTO used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PLUTO (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A cartoon character created by Walt Disney

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

character; fictional character; fictitious character (an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story))

Sense 2

Meaning:

(Roman mythology) god of the underworld; counterpart of Greek Hades

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Dis; Dis Pater; Orcus; Pluto

Instance hypernyms:

Roman deity (a deity worshipped by the ancient Romans)

Domain category:

Roman mythology (the mythology of the ancient Romans)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A large asteroid that was once thought to be the farthest known planet from the sun; it has an elliptical orbit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930

Instance hypernyms:

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))

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

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

 Context examples 

Exactly why the bright methane ice settles on these crater rims and walls is a mystery; also puzzling is why this same effect doesn’t occur broadly across Pluto.

(Pluto’s ‘Halo’ Craters, NASA)

In a second significant finding, New Horizons has detected numerous small, exposed regions of water ice on Pluto.

(New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto, NASA)

Although methane and nitrogen ice covers much of the surface of Pluto, these materials are not strong enough to build the mountains.

(The Icy Mountains of Pluto, NASA)

That flyby will be the most distant in the history of space exploration, a billion miles beyond Pluto.

(New Horizons' Next Target Just Got a Lot More Interesting, NASA)

Another big event of January will arrive when Saturn aligns with Pluto in conjunction on January 12, something that happens every 33 to 38 years, depending on these planets’ orbits.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Located beyond Neptune's orbit, the belt comprises icy objects and rocks—among them four dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.

(Brazil astronomers discover ring around dwarf planet near Pluto, Agência Brasil)

The methane ice-rich surface on Pluto may be sublimating away into the atmosphere, exposing a layer of water-ice underneath.

(What’s Eating at Pluto?, NASA)

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has returned the best color and the highest resolution images yet of Pluto’s largest moon, Charon – and these pictures show a surprisingly complex and violent history.

(Pluto’s Big Moon Charon Reveals a Colorful and Violent History, NASA)

Pluto’s icy plains also display dark streaks that are a few miles long.

(New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)

Leftover debris remains in regions of our own solar system like the Kuiper Belt, beyond Neptune, or the Oort Cloud, far past Pluto.

(Comet Provides New Clues to Origins of Earth's Oceans, NASA)