mesosphere

[ mez-uh-sfeer, mes-, mee-zuh-, -suh- ]

noun

(in the classification of the earth's atmosphere by chemical properties) the region between the ionosphere and the exosphere, extending from about 250–650 miles (400–1050 km) above the surface of the earth.
(in the classification of the earth's atmosphere by thermal properties) the region between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, extending from about 20–50 miles (32–80 km) above the surface of the earth.

Origin of mesosphere

First recorded in 1945–50; meso- + -sphere

Other words from mesosphere

mes·o·spher·ic [mez-uh-sfer-ik, mes-, mee-zuh-, -suh-], /ˌmɛz əˈsfɛr ɪk, ˌmɛs-, ˌmi zə-, -sə-/, adjective

Words Nearby mesosphere

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use mesosphere in a sentence

One day such sensor parachutes may float through the mesosphere.
Light levitation might help explore Earth’s ‘ignorosphere’ | Kathryn Hulick | April 21, 2021 | Science News For Students
In the mesosphere, there is “not enough air for airplanes or balloons, but too much air for satellites,” he says.
Light levitation might help explore Earth’s ‘ignorosphere’ | Kathryn Hulick | April 21, 2021 | Science News For Students
He, Azadi, and the rest of the team flew their discs in a chamber filled with the same concentration of air as the mesosphere.
Light levitation might help explore Earth’s ‘ignorosphere’ | Kathryn Hulick | April 21, 2021 | Science News For Students
When this rocket was 85 kilometers off the ground, its water cargo exploded — spraying the upper mesosphere with a plume of vapor that froze into a cloud of ice crystals.
To understand how ‘night-shining’ clouds form, scientists made one themselves | Maria Temming | March 5, 2021 | Science News
Microfliers could run on sunlight or laser light and could someday carry small instruments to measure conditions in the relatively unexplored mesosphere, the researchers suggest.
Tiny, sunlight-powered aircraft could soar beyond airplanes’ reach | Emily Conover | February 12, 2021 | Science News

What about the incidence of penetrating meteors in the mesosphere?
A Fine Fix | R. C. Noll

British Dictionary definitions for mesosphere

mesosphere

/ (ˈmɛsəʊˌsfɪə) /

noun

the atmospheric layer lying between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, characterized by a rapid decrease in temperature with height
the solid part of the earth's mantle lying between the asthenosphere and the core

Derived forms of mesosphere

mesospheric (ˌmɛsəʊˈsfɛrɪk), adjective

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 mesosphere

mesosphere

[ mĕz′ə-sfîr′ ]

The region of the Earth's atmosphere lying above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, from a height of about 50 km (31 mi) to about 80 km (50 mi) above the Earth's surface. In the mesosphere temperatures decrease with increasing altitude due to the decreasing absorption of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. At the top of this region temperatures are around -95°C (-135.4°F). Most of the meteors that enter Earth's atmosphere burn up while passing through the mesosphere. See also exosphere stratosphere thermosphere troposphere. See illustration at atmosphere.

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