as·ter·oid

(ăs′tə-roid′)

1. Astronomy Any of numerous small solar system bodies that revolve around the sun, with orbits lying chiefly between Mars and Jupiter and characteristic diameters roughly between one and several hundred kilometers. Also called minor planet, planetoid.

2. Zoology See starfish.

adj. also as·ter·oi·dal (ăs′tə-roid′l)

Star-shaped.

[From Greek asteroeidēs, starlike : astēr, star; see ster- in Indo-European roots + -oeidēs, -oid.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

asteroid

(ˈæstəˌrɔɪd)

1. (Celestial Objects) Also called: minor planet or planetoid any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun mainly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Their diameters range from 930 kilometres (Ceres) to less than one kilometre

2. (Zoology) Also called: asteroidean any echinoderm of the class Asteroidea; a starfish

adj

3. (Zoology) of, relating to, or belonging to the class Asteroidea

4. shaped like a star

[C19: from Greek asteroeidēs starlike, from astēr a star]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

as•ter•oid

(ˈæs təˌrɔɪd)

n.

1. any of the thousands of small, solid bodies that revolve about the sun in orbits largely between Mars and Jupiter.

adj.

2. starlike.

[1795–1805; < Greek asteroeidḗs starry, starlike. See aster, -oid]

as`ter•oi′dal, adj.

as·ter·oid

(ăs′tə-roid′)

Any of numerous small, often irregularly shaped bodies that orbit the sun. Asteroids range from several hundred miles in diameter to the size of a speck of dust. ♦ Most are found in the region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter known as the asteroid belt. See Note at solar system.

The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	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) Chiron - an asteroid discovered in 1977; it is unique in having an orbit lying mainly between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus minor planet, planetoid - any of numerous small celestial bodies that move around the sun
Adj.	1.	asteroid - shaped like a star star-shaped angulate, angular - having angles or an angular shape

asteroid

noun planetoid, minor planet It's only a matter of time before a giant asteroid destroys the Earth.

Asteroids

Ceres, Eros, Hermes, Hesperia, Juno, Pallas, Phaethon

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

asteroidi

asteroid

[ˈæstərɔɪd] N → asteroide m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

asteroid

[ˈæstərɔɪd] n → astéroïde m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

asteroid

n → Asteroid m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

asteroid

[ˈæstərɔɪd] n → asteroide m

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Crew rescued by Planet liner Asteroid. Watched to water and pithed by Postal Packet, Dec.

View in context

A collision was possible, and might be attended with deplorable results; either the projectile would deviate from its path, or a shock, breaking its impetus, might precipitate it to earth; or, lastly, it might be irresistibly drawn away by the powerful asteroid. The president caught at a glance the consequences of these three hypotheses, either of which would, one way or the other, bring their experiment to an unsuccessful and fatal termination.

The asteroid passed several hundred yards from the projectile and disappeared, not so much from the rapidity of its course, as that its face being opposite the moon, it was suddenly merged into the perfect darkness of space.

View in context

Is he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure mathematics that it is said that there was no man in the scientific press capable of criticizing it?

View in context

The lonely Earth amid the balls That hurry through the eternal halls, A makeweight flying to the void, Supplemental asteroid, Or compensatory spark, Shoots across the neutral Dark.

View in context

I should keep well within the limit of that early excess now, and should not liken the creation of Shakespeare to the creation of any heavenly body bigger, say, than one of the nameless asteroids that revolve between Mars and Jupiter.

View in context

This asteroid was a five-day simulation created as an exercise for scientists attending the 2019 Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.

A Practice Drill For An Asteroid Strike!

There are plans to obtain three samples from various locations on the asteroid. Two of the samples will be obtained through a sampling horn.

Sample return missions to asteroids: All you need to know about Hayabusa 2 and OSIRIS-REx

After an extensive study above the equator, the spacecraft landed on the asteroid will now retrieve a soil sample.

Humans on the cusp of a new frontier in space

It is thought that an asteroid or a comet was responsible for the blast.

Int'l Asteroid Day to be marked on June 30

The team used a new search technique that also identified the oldest known asteroid family, which extends throughout the inner region of the main asteroid belt.

Primordial Asteroids Discovered