giant planet

[jahy-uhnt plan-it]

noun

Astronomy.

1. any of the four largest planets in our solar system, which in order of size, from the largest, are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

giant planet

noun

1. any of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, characterized by large mass, low density, and an extensive atmosphere

Word History and Origins

Origin of giant planet¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

The system is only 17 million years old and has a giant planet, HIP 67522 b, orbiting close to its star.

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According to the study, the giant planet created rings and wide gaps in the protoplanetary disk, helping to solve a long-standing mystery: why many primitive meteorites formed several million years after the very first solid materials.

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A giant planet wrapped by a scorching atmosphere as fluffy as cotton, WASP-107 b orbits a star about 200 light-years away.

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Kane was studying a star system called HD 104067 about 66 light years away from our sun that was already known to harbor a giant planet.

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The dates suggested the impacts that shattered the parent objects happened startlingly early, most likely driven by a giant planet migration at 11 million years, just as the inner planets were finishing being formed.

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