/ˈɔː.bɪt/, /ˈɔɹ.bɪt/
OriginInherited from Middle English orbite, orbita, from Latin orbita (“course, track, impression, mark”).
- countable, uncountableAn elliptical movement of an object about a celestial object or Lagrange point, especially a periodic elliptical revolution.
- countable, uncountableOne complete circuit round an orbited body.
“The Moon's orbit around the Earth takes nearly one month to complete.”
- uncountableThe state of moving in an orbit.
- countable, uncountableThe path of an electron around an atomic nucleus.
- countable, uncountableA path for the ball on the outer edge of the playfield, usually connected so that the ball entering in one end will come out of the other.
- countable, figuratively, uncountableA sphere of influence; an area or extent of activity, interest, or control.
“In the post WWII era, several eastern European countries came into the orbit of the Soviet Union.”
“The convenience store was a heavily travelled point in her daily orbit, as she purchased both cigarettes and lottery tickets there.”
“Bondi has been inside Trump’s orbit for some time, and is widely seen to have demonstrated her loyalty to Trump during his first term, when she helped with his impeachment defense, and more recently w”
- countable, uncountableThe bony cavity in the skull of a vertebrate containing the eyeball.
- countable, uncountableThe area around the eye of a bird or other animal.
- countable, uncountableA collection of points related by the evolution function of a dynamical system.
- countable, uncountableThe subset of elements of a set X to which a given element can be moved by members of a specified group of transformations that act on X.
- countable, uncountableThe number of hands such that each player at the table has posted the big blind once.
“All right, I'll play one more orbit but then I'm leaving!”
- countable, informal, uncountableA state of increased excitement, activity, or anger.
“Dad went into orbit when I told him that I'd crashed the car.”
“Given a veritable Pagan's Paddock by the Cats to work in on Friday night, Danger booted two goals in the first seven minutes to send Geelong fans into orbit.”
- transitiveTo circle or revolve around another object or position.
“The Earth orbits the Sun.”
“The satellite orbits the Lagrange point.”
- transitiveTo place an object (e.g. a satellite) into an orbit around a planet.
“A rocket was used to orbit the satellite.”
- transitiveTo move around the general vicinity of something.
“The harried mother had a cloud of children orbiting her, begging for sweets.”
- transitiveTo move in a circle.
- transitiveTo center (around).
“I have orbited my entire life around you, and you know it, okay?”
- transitiveTo continue to follow or engage with someone by means of social media after breaking up with them.
Formsorbits(plural) · orbits(present, singular, third-person) · orbiting(participle, present) · orbited(participle, past) · orbited(past)