Definition of: star

(stär) noun
1. Astron. One of a class of self–luminous celestial bodies, exclusive of comets, meteors, and nebulae, but including the sun. The stars are classified according to their relative brightness in what are known as magnitudes, the first being the brightest and the sixth the faintest visible to the naked eye. The table below gives the names of the principal navigational stars and their apparent magnitudes, with the constellation in which each may be found. ♦ Collateral adjectives: astral, sidereal, stellar.
2. Loosely, any heavenly body; a planet.
3. A conventional figure having five or more radiating points: used as an emblem or device, as on the shoulder strap of a general.
4. An asterisk (*).
5. A white spot on the forehead of a horse or bovine animal.
6. An actor or actress who plays the leading part; hence, anyone who shines prominently in a calling or profession: a literary star.
7. A heavenly body considered as influencing one's fate; hence, fortune; destiny.
—binary star A pair of stars revolving about a common center. Three types have been noted: eclipsing, in which the members successively eclipse each other; spectroscopic, in which the members are distinguishable only by shifts in their spectral lines; and visual, in which the members may be distinguished through the telescope.
—dark star An invisible star, non–shining or dimly shining: known only through relation to visible stars, as during eclipsing action.
—double star Two stars so near to each other as to be almost indistinguishable except through a telescope.
—dwarf star Any of a class of stars which have reached their greatest temperature and are in the phase of contraction, with luminosity passing from bluish to orange.
—giant star Any of a class of stars of great mass and high luminosity which are passing through the early stages of their evolution.
—variable star Any of several groups of stars whose apparent magnitude varies at different times. The cause may be external, as with binary stars, one of which regularly eclipses the other; or internal, as with true variable stars whose periodic fluctuations in light are caused by internal changes. See CEPHEID VARIABLE, NOVA.
—v. starred, star·ring v.t.
1. To set or adorn with spangles or stars.
2. To mark with an asterisk.
3. To transform into a star.
4. To present as a star in a play or motion picture.
—v.i.
5. To shine brightly as a star; be prominent or brilliant.
6. To play the leading part; be the star.
—adjective
1. Of or pertaining to a star or stars.
2. Prominent; brilliant: a star football player. [OE steorra]