appulse
Americannoun
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energetic motion toward a point.
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the act of striking against something.
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Astronomy. the approach or occurrence of conjunction between two celestial bodies.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of appulse
1620–30; < Latin appulsus driven to, landed (past participle of appellere ), equivalent to ap- ap- 1 + pul- (variant stem of pellere to drive, push) + -sus, variant of -tus past participle suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There had been a total solar eclipse, new comets, unusual sunspots and the only perfect lunar appulse in four centuries.
From Time Magazine Archive
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It was an appulse of the moon, visible in most of North America and parts of Europe.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The near approach of one heavenly body to another, or to the meridian; a coming into conjunction; as, the appulse of the moon to a star, or of a star to the meridian.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
In all consonants there is an appulse of the organs.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah
The appulse or near approach is but one of the methods by which the spiral nebul� may have come into existence.
From Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by Todd, David Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.