outer planet

[ ou-ter plan-it ]

nounAstronomy.
  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.

Origin of outer planet

1
First recorded in 1940–45

Words Nearby outer planet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use outer planet in a sentence

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

    Eureka: | Edgar A. Poe
  • Le Verrier's prediction of an outer planet was a matter of dead certainty.

    Mars and its Mystery | Edward Sylvester Morse
  • The useless outer planet remained a lush green, save for its seas.

    Talents, Incorporated | William Fitzgerald Jenkins

British Dictionary definitions for outer planet

outer planet

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

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 outer planet

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. Compare inner planet. See also superior planet.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.