Dictionary.com

Tombaugh

[ tom-baw ]
/ ˈtɒm bɔ /
Save This Word!

noun
Clyde William, 1906–97, U.S. astronomer: discovered Pluto 1930.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Tombaugh in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Tombaugh

Tombaugh
/ (ˈtɒmbəʊ) /

noun
Clyde William. 1906–97, US astronomer, who discovered (1930) the dwarf planet Pluto
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 Tombaugh

Tombaugh
[ tŏmbô′ ]
Clyde William 1906-1997

American astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930. Beyond the orbit of Neptune, the existence of a planet known as Planet X, had been predicted some years earlier by the American astronomer Percival Lowell based on apparent perturbations in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. Tombaugh's careful analysis of celestial photographs did reveal a new celestial body, although it was too small to have caused the perturbations. Planet X itself was never found.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
FEEDBACK