auroral
AmericanOther Word Forms
- aurorally adverb
Etymology
Origin of auroral
First recorded in 1545–55; auror(a) ( def. ) + -al 1
Explanation
An aurora is an astronomical phenomenon, when colored lights seem to shimmer in the sky. Auroral refers to that display––you might describe it as a show of auroral light. The best known aurora is the aurora borealis, otherwise known as the northern lights. If you ever have trouble with auroral, try to remember Fozzie Bear's summation of the impossible from a line in the "Muppet Movie": "The aurora borealis/shining down in Dallas/Can you picture that?"
Vocabulary lists containing auroral
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.
The event, the biggest in 20 years, produced bright auroral lights in skies across the world.
From BBC • May 22, 2024
With more of them at the moment, there is a greater chance of more frequent and strong auroral activity.
From BBC • May 11, 2024
"We never had data from the polar regions, so Juno has been transformative in terms of the planet's auroral physics and helping further the discussion about its magnetic field lines," Delamere said.
From Science Daily • May 6, 2024
For isolated brown dwarfs like W1935, the absence of a stellar wind to contribute to the auroral process and explain the extra energy in the upper atmosphere required for the methane emission is a mystery.
From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024
Once or twice the auroral coruscations accompanied a moon in its last quarter, and generally previous to bad weather.
From Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal; or, Eighteen Months in the Polar Regions, in Search of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, in the Years 1850-51 by Osborn, Sherard
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.
