<adj.all> the leading man prima ballerina prima donna a star figure skater the starring role a stellar role a stellar performance
Star \Star\ (st[aum]r), n. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. sta['i]rn[=o], Armor. & Corn. steren, L. stella, Gr. 'asth`r, 'a`stron, Skr. star; perhaps from a root meaning, to scatter, Skr. st[.r], L. sternere (cf. {Stratum}), and originally applied to the stars as being strewn over the sky, or as being scatterers or spreaders of light. [root]296. Cf. {Aster}, {Asteroid}, {Constellation}, {Disaster}, {Stellar}.] 1. One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebul[ae].
His eyen twinkled in his head aright, As do the stars in the frosty night. --Chaucer.
Note: The stars are distinguished as {planets}, and {fixed stars}. See {Planet}, {Fixed stars} under {Fixed}, and {Magnitude of a star} under {Magnitude}.
2. The polestar; the north star. --Shak.
3. (Astrol.) A planet supposed to influence one's destiny; (usually pl.) a configuration of the planets, supposed to influence fortune.
O malignant and ill-brooding stars. --Shak.
Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury. --Addison.
4. That which resembles the figure of a star, as an ornament worn on the breast to indicate rank or honor.
On whom . . . Lavish Honor showered all her stars. --Tennyson.
5. Specifically, a radiated mark in writing or printing; an asterisk [thus, *]; -- used as a reference to a note, or to fill a blank where something is omitted, etc.
6. (Pyrotechny) A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding in the air, presents a starlike appearance.
7. A person of brilliant and attractive qualities, especially on public occasions, as a distinguished orator, a leading theatrical performer, etc.
Note: Star is used in the formation of compound words generally of obvious signification; as, star-aspiring, star-bespangled, star-bestudded, star-blasting, star-bright, star-crowned, star-directed, star-eyed, star-headed, star-paved, star-roofed, star-sprinkled, star-wreathed.
{Blazing star}, {Double star}, {Multiple star}, {Shooting star}, etc. See under {Blazing}, {Double}, etc.
{Nebulous star} (Astron.), a small well-defined circular nebula, having a bright nucleus at its center like a star.
{Star anise} (Bot.), any plant of the genus Illicium; -- so called from its star-shaped capsules.
{Star apple} (Bot.), a tropical American tree ({Chrysophyllum Cainito}), having a milky juice and oblong leaves with a silky-golden pubescence beneath. It bears an applelike fruit, the carpels of which present a starlike figure when cut across. The name is extended to the whole genus of about sixty species, and the natural order ({Sapotace[ae]}) to which it belongs is called the Star-apple family.
{Star conner}, one who cons, or studies, the stars; an astronomer or an astrologer. --Gascoigne.
{Star coral} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of stony corals belonging to {Astr[ae]a}, {Orbicella}, and allied genera, in which the calicles are round or polygonal and contain conspicuous radiating septa.
{Star cucumber}. (Bot.) See under {Cucumber}.
{Star flower}. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus {Ornithogalum}; star-of-Bethlehem. (b) See {Starwort} (b) . (c) An American plant of the genus {Trientalis} ({Trientalis Americana}). --Gray.
{Star fort} (Fort.), a fort surrounded on the exterior with projecting angles; -- whence the name.
{Star gauge} (Ordnance), a long rod, with adjustable points projecting radially at its end, for measuring the size of different parts of the bore of a gun.
{Star grass}. (Bot.) (a) A small grasslike plant ({Hypoxis erecta}) having star-shaped yellow flowers. (b) The colicroot. See {Colicroot}.
{Star hyacinth} (Bot.), a bulbous plant of the genus {Scilla} ({S. autumnalis}); -- called also {star-headed hyacinth}.
{Star jelly} (Bot.), any one of several gelatinous plants ({Nostoc commune}, {N. edule}, etc.). See {Nostoc}.
{Star lizard}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Stellion}.
{Star-of-Bethlehem} (Bot.), a bulbous liliaceous plant ({Ornithogalum umbellatum}) having a small white starlike flower.
{Star-of-the-earth} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {P} ({Plantago coronopus}), growing upon the seashore.
{Star polygon} (Geom.), a polygon whose sides cut each other so as to form a star-shaped figure.
{Stars and Stripes}, a popular name for the flag of the United States, which consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, alternately red and white, and a union having, in a blue field, white stars to represent the several States, one for each.
With the old flag, the true American flag, the Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the chamber in which we sit. --D. Webster.
{Star showers}. See {Shooting star}, under {Shooting}.
{Star thistle} (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea solstitialis}) having the involucre armed with stout radiating spines.
{Star wheel} (Mach.), a star-shaped disk, used as a kind of ratchet wheel, in repeating watches and the feed motions of some machines.
{Star worm} (Zo["o]l.), a gephyrean.
{Temporary star} (Astron.), a star which appears suddenly, shines for a period, and then nearly or quite disappears. These stars were supposed by some astronomers to be variable stars of long and undetermined periods. More recently, variations star in start intensity are classified more specifically, and this term is now obsolescent. See also {nova}. [Obsolescent]
{Variable star} (Astron.), a star whose brilliancy varies periodically, generally with regularity, but sometimes irregularly; -- called {periodical star} when its changes occur at fixed periods.
{Water star grass} (Bot.), an aquatic plant ({Schollera graminea}) with small yellow starlike blossoms.
Star \Star\, v. i. To be bright, or attract attention, as a star; to shine like a star; to be brilliant or prominent; to play a part as a theatrical star. --W. Irving.
Star \Star\ (st[aum]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Starred} (st[aum]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Starring}.] To set or adorn with stars, or bright, radiating bodies; to bespangle; as, a robe starred with gems. ``A sable curtain starred with gold.'' --Young.
A woman was in critical condition today after nine hours of surgery to receive a new liver, following a plea from track star Carl Lewis to help locate an organ.
When Haig's presidential star faded early, he declared his support for Senate Republican leader Robert Dole of Kansas.
"My attitude was that I'd get a manager and make a living, not that I'd become a star," he said.
He always referred to Lillian Hellman's play, "The Little Foxes," as "The Three Little Foxes," and he fought with Warner Bros. to allow Bette Davis to star in the movie.
Based on the 1933 Warner Bros. movie starring Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers, the show told the tale of a chorus girl replacing an aging star who breaks her ankle just before opening night.
Pop star Belinda Carlisle has withdrawn from appearing at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, saying livestock at such events are mistreated.
But Mr. McMillin predicted Campbell will face stiff competition from Kellogg, "the star of the waffle business."
But yesterday Mr. Anderson, Continental's former chairman and chief executive officer, testified as the FDIC's star witness, helping to point the finger at the banking concern's former auditors, Ernst & Whinney.
Soviet rock star Victor Tsoi, lead singer of the popular group Kino, was killed in a car crash while returning from a fishing trip in Latvia, the Tass news agency reported Thursday.
Hollywood never offered the wire-haired star a lucrative leading role in action-adventure pictures; these went instead to rivals Lassie and Rin-Tin-Tin.
"If you go to (the networks) with a best-selling novel and a star, you'll produce it.
Successes included observations of a white dwarf star, a star near the end of its life; a galaxy 41 million light years away that is believed to contain a black hole, ad Crab Nebula, a remnant of a supernova that occurred more than 900 years ago.
Successes included observations of a white dwarf star, a star near the end of its life; a galaxy 41 million light years away that is believed to contain a black hole, ad Crab Nebula, a remnant of a supernova that occurred more than 900 years ago.
She'd been a star since her show-stopping number, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" in "Leave It to Me" in 1938.
Former pro football star John Matuszak died of an accidental overdose of a mild narcotic painkiller, the coroner said Tuesday in a report that also found non-lethal traces of cocaine in his system.
By 1980, he was off for a year of study at the Naval War College, a necessary ticket for a would-be star.
Ms. Bennett is a star of CBS' daytime serial, "The Young and the Restless." CBS had announced the day before that it planned to delay the Sept. 5 start of its fall season because of the strike until at least late October.
They'll also hear rock star Stephen Stills and jazz artist Grover Washington at the official host committee's party for 9,000 journalists at the huge Georgia World Congress Center.
"Roseanne" creator Matt Williams left the show in January 1989 over "creative differences" with the outspoken star.
It would be about her mother, Ireene, now deceased, who was a star of children's radio and TV shows in the 1930s, '40s and '50s known as "the singing lady."
"M. Butterfly," John Rubinstein stars in a play by David Henry Hwang about the love affair between a French diplomat and a Chinese opera star.
Veteran country music star Conway Twitty is offering his tourist complex for sale for $6 million, his real estate agent says.
Debra Winger and Nick Nolte will star in a mystery movie written by playwright Arthur Miller, the movie's producers announced.
But there are two bright sides to "True Blue," although it must be said its debut wastes guest star Amanda Plummer in a role of few lines and many squints as your basic Anglo-Saxon female member of your basic Middle East terrorist cell.
Ronald Pharaon, the Lebanese who directs Radio Monte Carlo's advertising sales, says star disk jockeys and broadcasters receive a total of 1,000 to 1,500 letters a month and countless phone calls from fans.
While Pepsi has Mr. Tyson in its corner, Coke has another media star waiting in the wings to plug Diet Coke: Roger Rabbit, the animated character from the new cartoon-and-live action movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
Ann Jillian will star as a widow and mother of a teen-age girl who moves from New York to California to start a new life.
A once expressive actress - remember Polanski's Repulsion? - is now cast forever as the First Lady of French cinema. If Hollywood had a star as inanimate as this, they would consign her to stand-in work for the Columbia torch lady.
Absolutely not." How well he does next week notwithstanding, Costas is considered to have star potential by NBC, whose talk-show king, Johnny Carson, is approaching retirement age.
Mandarich said the audience laughed at his lines, shot with series star Judd Hirsch.