gas giant

noun

one of the four planets in our solar system that are composed chiefly of hydrogen and helium, namely Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

Nearby words

gas fitter, gas fitting, gas furnace, gas gangrene, gas gangrene antitoxin, gas giant, gas guzzler, gas jet, gas law, gas laws, gas lighter

Word Origin for gas giant

C20: coined by James Blish (1921–75), US science fiction writer

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

Examples from the Web for gas giant

But in the battle of the gas-giant planet, where there was fighting the Kandarians were never less than two to one.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
The gas-giant planet far behind, and the only inner one on this side of the sun, would return their pulses only after minutes.
The Aliens|Murray Leinster
The fleet of Kandar came around the gas-giant world and flung itself at the fleet of Mekin.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
In the battle of the gas-giant planet, the fleet had fired no more than three or four missiles for every enemy ship destroyed.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins

It made for a rendezvous over a pole of the gas-giant planet which was the fourth planet from Kandar's sun.
Talents, Incorporated|William Fitzgerald Jenkins

Science definitions for gas giant

gas giant

A large, massive, low-density planet composed primarily of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia in either gaseous or liquid state. Gas giants have swirling atmospheres primarily of hydrogen and helium, with no well-defined planetary surface; they are assumed to have rocky cores. They are also characterized by ring systems, although only Saturn's is readily visible from Earth. Our solar system contains four gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The majority of extrasolar planets discovered so far are the size of the solar system's gas giants, although they orbit their stars much more closely and may differ in composition from ours. Also called Jovian planet Compare terrestrial planet.