I. star 1 S2 W2 /stɑː $ stɑːr/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: steorra ]
1 . IN THE SKY a large ball of burning gas in space that can be seen at night as a point of light in the sky ⇨ constellation , galaxy , supernova :
I lay on my back and looked up at the stars.
The sky was filled with stars.
The stars were shining.
The stars were all out (=they were shining) .
The stars were twinkling overhead (=shining and quickly changing from bright to faint) .
under the stars (=outdoors at night)
sitting around a campfire under the stars
⇨ ↑ falling star , ↑ morning star , ↑ shooting star
2 . FAMOUS PERFORMER/PLAYER a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports player:
By the age of 20, she was already a big star (=a very famous and successful performer) .
a pop/movie/TV/football etc star
He is a rising star (=someone who is becoming famous and successful) in the music world.
She’s a good actress but she lacks star quality (=a special quality that could make someone a star) .
3 . MAIN PERSON IN A FILM/PLAY ETC the person who has the main part, or one of them, in a film, play, show etc
star of
Ray Grimes, the star of the television series ‘Brother John’
4 . BEST/MOST SUCCESSFUL PERSON
a) the person who gives the best performance in a film, play, show etc:
Laporte, as Ebenezer Scrooge, is undoubtedly the star of the show.
Shamu, the killer whale, is the show’s star attraction (=best and most popular person or thing) .
b) the best or most successful person in a group of players, workers, students etc
star player/performer/salesman etc
the team’s star player
the school’s star pupil
the star columnist of ‘The Sunday Times’
5 . SHAPE
a) a shape with four or more points, which represents the way a star looks in the sky
b) a mark in the shape of a star, used to draw attention to something written SYN asterisk :
I put a star next to the items that we still need to buy.
c) a piece of cloth or metal in the shape of a star, worn to show someone’s rank or position – used especially on military uniforms:
a four-star general
6 . HOTELS/RESTAURANTS a mark used in a system for judging the quality of hotels and restaurants
three-star/four-star/five-star etc
a two-star hotel
7 . the stars British English informal a description, usually printed in newspapers and magazines, of what will happen to you in the future, based on the position of the stars and ↑ planet s at the time of your birth SYN horoscope
sb’s stars
I never read my stars.
⇨ ↑ star sign
8 . something is written in the stars used to say that what happens to a person is controlled by ↑ fate (=a power that is believed to influence what happens in people’s lives) :
Their marriage was surely written in the stars.
9 . see stars to see flashes of light, especially because you have been hit on the head:
I felt a little dizzy and could see stars.
10 . have stars in your eyes to imagine that something you want to do is much more exciting or attractive than it really is ⇨ ↑ starry-eyed
11 . you’re a star!/what a star! British English spoken said when you are very grateful or pleased because of what someone has done:
Thanks, Mel. You’re a real star!
⇨ guiding star at ↑ guiding (2), ⇨ born under a lucky/unlucky star at ↑ born 2 (7), ⇨ reach for the stars at ↑ reach 1 (11), ⇨ thank your lucky stars at ↑ thank (3)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ a star shines
I looked up and saw hundreds of stars shining in the sky.
▪ a star twinkles (=shines with an unsteady light)
Stars began to twinkle in the darkening night sky.
▪ stars appear/come out (=appear in the sky)
We arrived home just as the stars were coming out.
▪ the stars are out (=they are shining)
There was a full moon, and the stars were out.
▪ look up at the stars
I had spent a lot of time looking up at the stars as a kid.
▪ sleep under the stars (=in a place with no roof)
In the desert, they slept out under the stars.
■ adjectives
▪ bright
the brightest star in the night sky
▪ faint
The star is faint but visible.
▪ a distant star (=very far away)
He stared up towards the distant stars.
■ phrases
▪ a cluster of stars (=a small group of stars close together in the sky)
He fixed his telescope on a tiny little cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + star
▪ a big star (=a very famous and successful star)
He has worked with some of the world’s biggest stars.
▪ a movie/Hollywood star ( also a film star especially British English )
He looked like a movie star.
▪ a pop/rock star
Who’s your favourite pop star?
▪ a TV star
Most TV stars do quite a lot of charity work.
▪ a soap star (=a star in a television soap opera)
She was known as a soap star before she took up singing.
▪ a sports/football/basketball etc star
Sam was a football star in college.
▪ an international star (=a star who is famous in many countries)
His performance in 'The Titanic' made him an international star.
▪ a rising star (=someone who is becoming famous and successful)
She is very much the rising star of Black American fiction.
▪ a child star (=a child who is a famous performer)
The production team say they have been careful to look after all their child stars.
■ star + NOUN
▪ star quality (=a special quality that could make someone a star)
She radiates genuine star quality.
▪ star treatment (=special treatment that a star gets)
Winners get star treatment from the media.
▪ a star vehicle (=a film or television programme that is intended to show the abilities of one particular star)
He denied that the movie was just a star vehicle for Tom Hanks.
■ phrases
▪ a star of stage and screen (=a star who has been in plays and films)
Now this much-loved star of stage and screen has been made a Dame.
• • •
THESAURUS (for Meaning 1)
■ in the sky
▪ star a large ball of burning gas in space, which can be seen at night as a point of light in the sky:
The dark night sky was clear and full of stars.
▪ planet one of the large objects that goes around the sun, for example the Earth, Saturn, Mercury, or Mars:
The planet Uranus was discovered in 1781.
▪ sun the star that gives us light and heat, around which the planets move. There are also many millions of other suns in the universe:
The sun came out from behind a cloud.
|
a dying sun
▪ moon the round object that moves around the Earth every 28 days, or a similar object that goes around another planet:
The moon rose in the night sky.
|
Titan is one of the moons of Saturn.
▪ asteroid a mass of rock that moves around the sun. Most asteroids are found between Jupiter and Mars:
the asteroid belt
▪ pulsar a type of star that is far away in space and produces ↑ radiation and RADIO WAVES
▪ quasar an object like a star that is far away in space and shines extremely brightly
▪ supernova a very large exploding star
▪ constellation a group of stars that forms a particular pattern and has a name:
The constellation of Orion is one of the most easily recognizable patterns of stars in the night sky.
▪ galaxy one of the large groups of stars that make up the universe:
Astronomers have detected a galaxy 11 billion light years away.
▪ the universe all space, including all the stars and planets:
How many planets in the universe have life?
• • •
THESAURUS (for Meaning 2)
■ a famous person
▪ star a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports person:
She dreamed of becoming a movie star.
|
a talent show to find the stars of the future
▪ celebrity someone who often appears in newspapers, on television etc and is well-known to the public. Celebrities are often famous for being famous, not because they have any great ↑ talent :
The magazine is full of gossip about celebrities.
▪ name a famous person whose name is known by many people – used especially in the following expressions:
All the big names in football were at the awards dinner.
|
Giorgio Armani is one of the most famous names in fashion.
|
He is yet to become a household name (=someone who everyone has heard of) .
▪ personality an entertainer or sports player who is famous and often appears in the newspapers, on television etc. – used especially in the following phrases:
Many advertisers use TV personalities to promote their products.
|
He was chosen as sports personality of the year.
■ a very famous person
▪ superstar an extremely famous performer, especially a musician or film actor:
The film made Tom Cruise an international superstar.
▪ legend someone who is famous and admired for being extremely good at doing something – used especially about people who are at the end of a long career or who have died:
blues legend John Lee Hooker
|
Jane Fonda is the daughter of film legend Henry Fonda.
▪ great [usually plural] someone who was one of the best players or performers that there have ever been:
He was one of the all-time soccer greats.
II. star 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle starred , present participle starring )
1 . [intransitive] if someone stars in a film, television show etc, they are one of the main characters in it
star in
Eastwood starred in ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’.
star with/opposite
DeVito stars opposite Dreyfuss in the movie.
star as
Hugh Grant stars as the romantic hero.
‘The Freshman’ was Brando’s first starring role (=the most important part in a film) in ten years.
2 . [transitive] if a film, television show, or play stars someone, that person is one of the main characters in it SYN feature :
a film starring Meryl Streep
star somebody as ...
The movie starred Orson Welles as Harry Lime.
3 . [transitive usually passive] to put an ↑ asterisk (=a star-shaped mark) next to something written:
The starred items are available.