dwarf planet

[ dwawrf-plan-it ]

/ ˈdwɔrf ˈplæn ɪt /

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noun Astronomy.

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.

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Origin of dwarf planet

First recorded in 1990–95

Words nearby dwarf planet

dwarfism, dwarf Japanese quince, dwarf male, dwarf mallow, dwarf palmetto, dwarf planet, dwarf shoot, dwarf star, dwarf sumac, Dwayne, DWB

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use dwarf planet in a sentence

Consider Ceres, the first of what are now known as dwarf planets to be discovered.
The definition of planet is still a sore point – especially among Pluto fans|Lisa Grossman|August 24, 2021|Science News
By now, there are at least 150 of these dwarf planets, and most people have no clue, he says.
The definition of planet is still a sore point – especially among Pluto fans|Lisa Grossman|August 24, 2021|Science News
There’s no shortage of new proposals for future missions to study the dwarf planet, including ones that would even attempt a sample return mission.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked|Neel V. Patel|June 16, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The largest asteroid and smallest dwarf planet in the solar system could be home to liquid water, sitting deep underground.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked|Neel V. Patel|June 16, 2021|MIT Technology Review

Ceres, a dwarf planet that sits between Mars and Jupiter, was studied by NASA’s Dawn probe from orbit from 2015 to 2018.
The best places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system, ranked|Neel V. Patel|June 16, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Do you want to be on the wrong side of history, Academy?
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’|Marlow Stern|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In fact, Mexico buys and sells more US goods than any other country on the planet except for Canada.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Good for her—but what a shameful indictment of Planet Fashion.
One Vogue Cover Doesn’t Solve Fashion’s Big Race Problem|Danielle Belton|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Another group of mistletoes, dwarf mistletoes, does things a bit differently.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants|Helen Thompson|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Dwarf mistletoe is freaky, freaky, freaky stuff,” says David Watson, an ecologist at Charles Sturt University in Australia.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants|Helen Thompson|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Reckoning that Neptune is the outermost planet of the solar system, that system would have a diameter of 5,584 millions of miles.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
Cassini observed, by the position of certain spots, the revolution of the planet Venus on its axis.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Meadows began to play inner planet combinations that occasionally paid, though at short odds.
Fee of the Frontier|Horace Brown Fyfe
Our poor planet will be but a silent ghost whirling on its dark path in the starlight.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
The third night, it being Christmas, this same dwarf returned to the chamber where I slept.
Honey-Bee|Anatole France

British Dictionary definitions for dwarf planet

dwarf planet

noun

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

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.