noun
comet
KAH-mit/ˈkɑːmɪt/
An icy body that orbits the sun and can develop a glowing tail near it.
The comet's bright tail streams away from its icy nucleus.
Etymology
The Greek description “long-haired” pictured a comet as a star with streaming hair. That image refers to its visible tail, the feature that supplied its name.
In context
a bright object hung above the horizon, dragging a long tail of light behind it, like smoke from a fire nobody could see. We know now that this was a comet, the very same one
More examples
- Astronomers tracked the comet across the sky.
- Several comets pass near the sun periodically.
- A telescope revealed the comet's surrounding glow.
Forms
comet · comets