/ stɑː(r); NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
IN SKY
1.
[ C ] a large ball of burning gas in space that we see as a point of light in the sky at night :
There was a big moon and hundreds of stars were shining overhead.
Sirius is the brightest star in the sky.
We camped out under the stars .
—see also falling star , lodestar , Pole Star , shooting star , starry ➡ note at outside
SHAPE
2.
[ C ] an object, a decoration, a mark, etc., usually with five or six points, whose shape represents a star :
a horse with a white star on its forehead
a sheriff's star
I've put a star by the names of the girls in the class.
a four-star general
MARK OF QUALITY
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] a mark that represents a star and tells you how good sth is, especially a hotel or restaurant :
three- / four- / five-star hotels
What star rating does this restaurant have?
PERFORMER
4.
[ C ] a famous and excellent singer, performer, sports player, etc. :
pop / rock / Hollywood, etc. stars
a football / tennis, etc. star
He's so good—I'm sure he'll be a big star.
She acts well but she hasn't got star quality .
The best models receive star treatment .
—see also all-star , film star , megastar , movie star , superstar
5.
[ C ] a person who has the main part, or one of the main parts, in a film / movie, play, etc. :
She was the star of many popular television series.
The star of the show was a young Italian singer.
the star role / part
—see also star turn
BEST OF GROUP
6.
[ C ] (often used before another noun) a person or thing that is the best of a group :
a star student
Paula is the star of the class.
He was the star performer at the championships.
The star prize is a weekend for two in Paris.
The monkey was the star attraction (= the best or most popular act) at the show.
HELPFUL PERSON
7.
[ C , usually sing. ] ( informal ) used to show that you feel very grateful for sth that sb has done or that you think they are wonderful :
Thanks! You're a star!
INFLUENCE ON SB'S FUTURE
8.
stars [ pl. ] a description of what sb thinks is going to happen to sb in the future, based on the position of the stars and planets when they were born
SYN horoscope :
Do you read your stars in the paper?
•
IDIOMS
- see stars
- stars in your eyes
—more at reach verb , thank
■ verb
( -rr- )
PERFORM IN MOVIE / PLAY
1.
[ v ] star (with / opposite sb) (in sth) to have one of the main parts in a film / movie, play, etc. :
She starred opposite Cary Grant in 'Bringing up Baby'.
No one has yet been chosen for the starring role (= the main part) .
2.
[ vn ] [ no passive ] if a film / movie, play, etc. stars sb, that person has one of the main parts :
a movie starring Tom Cruise and Demi Moore
The studio wants to star her in a sequel to last year's hit.
—see also co-star
MARK WITH SYMBOL
3.
[ vn ] [ usually passive ] to put a symbol shaped like a star (called an asterisk ) next to a word, etc. in order to make people notice it :
Treat all the sections that have been starred as priority.
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English steorra , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch ster , German Stern , from an Indo-European root shared by Latin stella and Greek astēr .