outer planet

[ ou-ter plan-it ]

noun

, Astronomy.

1. any of the planets in our solar system whose orbits lie beyond the asteroid belt, namely, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune: before its reclassification as a dwarf planet in 2006, Pluto was included among the outer planets.

outer planet

noun

1. any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and (formerly) Pluto, whose orbit lies outside the asteroid belt

outer planet

1. Any of the four planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, whose orbits lie outside that of Mars. The outer planets are large gas giants .
2. Compare inner planetSee also superior planet

Word History and Origins

Origin of outer planet¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

The find is the first concrete evidence to the idea that our outer planets could survive the death of the sun.

From Popular-Science

Mercury, Venus and the outer planets, with their extreme temperatures and inhospitable chemistry, may have gotten everything wrong.

From Time

Every time an outer planet completes an orbit around its star, some of its closer-in sibling planets complete multiple orbits.

From Science News

For consider the facts which characterise the movements of an outer planet such as Mars.

From Project Gutenberg

We'd better make the limits of your sovereignty the orbit of the outer planet of this system.

From Project Gutenberg

Speaking loosely, we may say that each outer planet is twice as far from the Sun as is the next inner one.

From Project Gutenberg

Le Verrier's prediction of an outer planet was a matter of dead certainty.

From Project Gutenberg

The useless outer planet remained a lush green, save for its seas.

From Project Gutenberg