dwarf planet

[ dwawrf-plan-it ]

nounAstronomy.
  1. a spherical celestial body revolving about the sun, similar to a planet but not large enough to gravitationally clear its orbital region of most or all other celestial bodies. In 2006, the planet Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet.

Origin of dwarf planet

1
First recorded in 1990–95

Words Nearby dwarf planet

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How to use dwarf planet in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for dwarf planet

dwarf planet

noun
  1. any celestial body within the solar system that is larger than a satellite but smaller than a planet, and that orbits the sun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for dwarf planet

dwarf planet

  1. A celestial body that orbits the Sun and is massive enough to assume a nearly spherical shape, but that does not clear other bodies from the neighborhood around its orbit and is not a satellite of a planet. Dwarf planets include Ceres, Pluto, and Eris. This category was created by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

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