parhelic circle

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noun Meteorology.

a white, horizontal band passing through the sun, either incomplete or extending around the horizon, produced by the reflection of the sun's rays from the vertical faces of ice prisms in the atmosphere.

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Also called parheliacal ring .

Origin of parhelic circle

First recorded in 1885–90; parhel(ion) + -ic

Words nearby parhelic circle

parfum, pargasite, parget, pargeting, parging, parhelic circle, parhelion, pari-, Paria, pariah, pariah dog

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

How to use parhelic circle in a sentence

So, Linklater just won Best Director by the New York Film Critics Circle.
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange|Marlow Stern|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Julio had come full circle and had returned to Cuba as a tourist in his own country.
Cuban Hip-Hop Was Born in Alamar|Daniel Levin|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The girls ran in the same circle (Palmolive was also in the Flowers of Romance) and the group was looking for a guitarist.
A First Lady of Punk Rock Talks|Justin Jones|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The RSD Facebook page, and all the local RSD groups, known as “inner circle,” have been switched to private.
The Secret World of Pickup Artist Julien Blanc|Brandy Zadrozny|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Not before long, I think about four cops went up to the circle and just grabbed a few of the people from behind.
Dispatch From USC Protests over Ferguson|Maya Richard Craven|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wharton and Louis had withdrawn their hands at the same instant they caught his eye; and the Duke turned into the circle.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
It was the conversation of every circle; and discussed according to the dispositions, or views of the speakers.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
We (the officers) were sitting in a circle round the general and Alcalde, both of whom appeared uneasy and anxious.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
His books were read in our homes, often aloud to the family circle by paterfamilias, and moved us to laughter or tears.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
A child's attempt to represent a man appears commonly to begin by drawing a sort of circle for the front view of the head.
Children's Ways|James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for parhelic circle

parhelic circle

noun

meteorol a luminous band at the same altitude as the sun, parallel to the horizon, caused by reflection of the sun's rays by ice crystals in the atmosphere

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 parhelic circle

parhelic circle

[ pär-hē′lĭk ]

A luminous halo visible at the height of the Sun and parallel to the horizon, caused by the Sun's rays reflecting off atmospheric ice crystals.