globe

American  

[glohb] / gloʊb /

noun

• globes
  plural

1. Usually the globe the planet Earth.

2. a planet or other celestial body.

3. a sphere on which is depicted a map of the earth terrestrial globe or of the heavens celestial globe.

4. a spherical body; sphere.

5. anything more or less spherical, as a lampshade or a glass fishbowl.

6. a golden ball traditionally borne as an emblem of sovereignty; orb.

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verb (used with object)

globed, globing

1. to form into a globe.

verb (used without object)

globed, globing

1. to take the form of a globe.

globe British  

/ ɡləʊb /

noun

1. a sphere on which a map of the world or the heavens is drawn or represented

2. the world; the earth

3. a planet or some other astronomical body

4. an object shaped like a sphere, such as a glass lampshade or fish-bowl

5. an electric light bulb

6. an orb, usually of gold, symbolic of authority or sovereignty

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verb

1. to form or cause to form into a globe

Usage

What does globe mean? The word globe most generally refers to a sphere—a ball-like shape or object. Something globe-shaped can be described as globular, which means the same thing as spherical. More specifically, a globe is a three-dimensional model of Earth. (There are also globes representing the moon and other planets, but globes of Earth are most common.) These kinds of globes are associated with their use in classrooms for the subject of geography. The phrase the globe is another way of saying the world or the planet in reference to Earth, as in His name was known in almost every corner of the globe. Example: I started my travels around the globe by spinning a globe and pointing to a random destination.

Synonym Usage

See earth.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• globelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• globes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of globe

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French globe, from Latin globus “round body, ball, sphere”

Explanation

A globe doesn't have to be a spherical representation of our planet; it can be anything shaped like one — like a soccer ball or a gumball. Referring to a round shape, globe is often used interchangeably with sphere, though sphere has another meaning of an area of particular interest or a segment of a particular population. Globe is also another name for planet Earth itself, our lovely third rock from the sun — as in "viewers are tuning in from around the globe."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

globe globes globed globing

Cruise’s Digger is the man most responsible for making a mess of the globe — and no other actor but him could have gotten a movie this messy green-lighted for a $125-million budget.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

The differences in how AI has been developed and deployed within each country and then to other parts of the globe make a clear finish line basically nonexistent.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 26, 2026

The list includes noncitizens from all corners of the globe, residing in all corners of the U.S.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

Stocks slid across the globe in early European trade Thursday as the implications of higher oil prices as well as strong U.S. growth data reverberated through markets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

In the painting he was standing next to a globe and holding an anemometer, a device for measuring wind speed.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

Read more about how the El Niño climate phenomenon is affecting the globes weather.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

She’s tried to earn extra cash by selling used items like Disney snow globes and ’90s-era Tommy Hilfiger clothing on eBay.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

And it came with added significance as she became the first man or woman in the history of the alpine skiing World Cup to win more than eight globes in a single event.

From Barron's ● Jan. 25, 2026

Gut-Behrami also leads the standings in Super-G and giant slalom, putting her on course to match Shiffrin’s impressive feat of claiming four crystal globes in 2019.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

He had fake snow and snow globes and stockings hung by the fireplace and lots of wrapped presents from Santa Claus.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Art Deco touches inform outdoor marquees, globed chandeliers, and vintage Audubon wallpaper is glinting with pink birds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2024

The Peter Kiewit Foundation no longer is funding the maintenance of Abbott Drive, which includes the so-called String of Pearls - globed lights that line a stretch of the thoroughfare.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 10, 2019

Donors have long paid for the so-called String of Pearls entrance, which features globed lights that line a stretch of Abbott Drive.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 10, 2018

A branch bounces, and out pops a Titi monkey with black, globed eyes and a pewter-colored beard.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the back of the room was a marble fireplace, big as a sepulchre, and a globed gasolier—dripping with prisms and strings of crystal beading—sparkled in the dim.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

I seemed conscious only of a shaft of light, as it were, traversing the darkness and globing itself in a steady disc of radiance on a lonely door.

From At a Winter's Fire by Bernard Edward Joseph Capes

Related Words

• map
• planet
• world