sphere
Geometry.
a solid geometric figure generated by the revolution of a semicircle about its diameter; a round body whose surface is at all points equidistant from the center. Equation: x2 + y2 + z2 = r2.
the surface of such a figure; a spherical surface.
any rounded body approximately of this form; a globular mass, shell, etc.
Astronomy.
a planet or star; heavenly body.
any of the transparent, concentric, spherical shells, or layers, in which, according to ancient belief, the planets, stars, and other heavenly bodies were set.
the place or environment within which a person or thing exists; a field of activity or operation: to be out of one's professional sphere.
a particular social world, stratum of society, or walk of life: His social sphere is small.
a field of something specified: a sphere of knowledge.
to enclose in or as if in a sphere.
to form into a sphere.
to place among the heavenly spheres.
Origin of sphere
1Other words for sphere
Other words from sphere
- sphereless, adjective
- spherelike, adjective
- subsphere, noun
- un·spher·ing, adjective
Words Nearby sphere
Other definitions for -sphere (2 of 2)
a combining form of sphere (planisphere); having a special use in the names of the layers of gases and the like surrounding the earth and other celestial bodies (ionosphere).
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sphere in a sentence
If you can’t find some peaceful and harmonious accommodation with the news industry — and by extension the political sphere — things start getting really, very, uncomfortable.
‘We’re getting more used to the uncertainty’: BBC Global News chief on ad-funded news | Lucinda Southern | September 10, 2020 | DigidayThough connected to the waterfront by a wooden gangway and to a nearby shopping mall by an underground tunnel, the sphere appears to bob in the marina like, well, an apple.
Apple’s ‘most ambitious’ new store is a departure from its signature design | claychandler | September 8, 2020 | FortuneThey don’t form spheres and aren’t big enough to keep other objects out of their way.
Scientists Say: Asteroid, meteor and meteorite | Bethany Brookshire | September 7, 2020 | Science News For StudentsRather, the blob is self-contained, a roiling, lumpy sphere that leaves the water around it mostly still.
An Unexpected Twist Lights Up the Secrets of Turbulence | David H. Freedman | September 3, 2020 | Quanta MagazineIf he can get that feeling going that people feel safe and secure in their own economic sphere, then he’s going to be in good shape.
The digital dating sphere can prove tricky, and bruising, for the trans user.
This may be precisely the point: that fiction at its best is a sphere of suspended belief as much as suspended disbelief.
In almost every sphere of life, the trend is to trade in ownership for access.
At that point, a sphere lit up, resembling the landing of the UFO in E.T., and the overheard lights descended on the stage.
I'm Not Country or Pop. I'm Just Pure Garth Brooks. | David Masciotra | September 10, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhy tolerate toxicity in a powerful sphere of modern life that has the potential to—and does—benefit so many?
Zelda Williams Is the Latest to Leave Twitter Because of Ugly Attacks | Tauriq Moosa | August 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf ever the fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely in their union.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories | Kate ChopinThe belated moon stole up from its lair, hovered above the sky-line, a gaudy orange sphere in the haze of smoke.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairBut in 1811 he was recalled to Paris to receive orders before starting on a new sphere of duty.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonHence in the house, the sphere of the Genius is no longer the hearth but the marriage-bed (lectus genialis).
The Religion of Ancient Rome | Cyril BaileySecond, geology, which takes account of all those actions which in process of time have been developed in our own sphere.
Outlines of the Earth's History | Nathaniel Southgate Shaler
British Dictionary definitions for sphere (1 of 2)
/ (sfɪə) /
maths
a three-dimensional closed surface such that every point on the surface is equidistant from a given point, the centre
the solid figure bounded by this surface or the space enclosed by it. Equation: (x–a)² + (y–b)² + (z–c)² = r ², where r is the radius and (a, b, c) are the coordinates of the centre; surface area: 4π r ²; volume: 4π r ³/3
any object having approximately this shape; globe
the night sky considered as a vaulted roof; firmament
any heavenly object such as a planet, natural satellite, or star
(in the Ptolemaic or Copernican systems of astronomy) one of a series of revolving hollow globes, arranged concentrically, on whose transparent surfaces the sun (or in the Copernican system the earth), the moon, the planets, and fixed stars were thought to be set, revolving around the earth (or in the Copernican system the sun)
particular field of activity; environment: that's out of my sphere
a social class or stratum of society
to surround or encircle
to place aloft or in the heavens
Origin of sphere
1British Dictionary definitions for -sphere (2 of 2)
having the shape or form of a sphere: bathysphere
indicating a spherelike enveloping mass: atmosphere
Derived forms of -sphere
- -spheric, adj combining form
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 sphere
[ sfîr ]
A three-dimensional geometric surface having all of its points the same distance from a given point.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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