mean distance

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noun Astronomy.

the arithmetic mean of the greatest and least distances of a planet from the sun, used in stating the size of an orbit; the semimajor axis.

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Origin of mean distance

First recorded in 1885–90

Words nearby mean distance

mean corpuscular volume, meander, meandering stream, meander line, mean deviation, mean distance, meandrous, mean free path, meanie, meaning, meaningful

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

How to use mean distance in a sentence

I mean, physically, mentally, you know, in every way, shape, and form.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Their leader, Njie, still going by “Dave” during the operation, would stay a safe distance away until the State House was secure.
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country|Jacob Siegel|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What they actually mean by that is, you know, he actually knows some people that are poor.
Why This Liberal Hearts Huckabee|Sally Kohn|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What does Bondi mean that clerks now should “determine how to proceed”?
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

What is most troubling is our – and I do mean “our” and not “their” – never treating these situations as learning opportunities.
In 2015, Let’s Try for More Compassion|Gene Robinson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Hilda, trembling at the door, more than half expected Mr. Orgreave to say: "You mean, she's invited herself."
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
He wanted to tell her that if she called her father, it would mean the end of everything for them, but he withheld this.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Off went the officers again, some distance to the front, and then back again to their men, and got them on a little further.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Distance, the uncertain light, and imagination, magnified it to a high wall; high as the wall of China.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
A lateen sail was visible in the direction of Cat Island, and others to the south seemed almost motionless in the far distance.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin

British Dictionary definitions for mean distance

mean distance

noun

the average of the greatest and least distances of a celestial body from its primary

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