From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstarstar1 /stɑː $ stɑːr/ ●●● S2 W2 noun [countable] 1 in the skyHA 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 star2 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).► see thesaurus at actor3 main person in a film/play etc the person who has the main part, or one of them, in a film, play, show etcstar 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) SUCCESSFULthe best or most successful person in a group of players, workers, students etcstar player/performer/salesman etc the team’s star player the school’s star pupil the star columnist of ‘The Sunday Times’5 shape a) CFa shape with four or more points, which represents the way a star looks in the sky b) SLAa 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) PMa 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 general6 hotels/restaurantsDLT a mark used in a system for judging the quality of hotels and restaurantsthree-star/four-star/five-star etc a two-star hotel 7 → the stars8 → something is written in the stars9 → see stars10 → have stars in your eyes11 → you’re a star!/what a star! → guiding star at guiding(2), → born under a lucky/unlucky star at born1(7), → reach for the stars at reach1(12), → thank your lucky stars at thank(3)COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: a large ball of burning gas in space that can be seen at night as a point of light in the skyverbsa star shinesI 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 starsI 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.adjectivesbrightthe brightest star in the night skyfaintThe star is faint but visible.a distant star (=very far away)He stared up towards the distant stars.phrasesa 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 – Meaning 2: a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports playerADJECTIVES/NOUN + stara 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 starWho’s your favourite pop star?a TV starMost 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 starSam 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 + NOUNstar 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.phrasesa 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 – Meaning 1: a large ball of burning gas in space that can be seen at night as a point of light in the skyin the skystar a large ball of burning gas in space, which can be seen at night as a point of light in the skyThe 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 MarsThe 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 universeThe sun came out from behind a cloud.a dying sunmoon the round object that moves around the Earth every 28 days, or a similar object that goes around another planetThe 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 Marsthe asteroid beltpulsar a type of star that is far away in space and produces radiation and radio wavesquasar an object like a star that is far away in space and shines extremely brightlysupernova a very large exploding starconstellation a group of stars that forms a particular pattern and has a nameThe 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 universeAstronomers have detected a galaxy 11 billion light years away. the universe all space, including all the stars and planetsHow many planets in the universe have life? THESAURUS – Meaning 2: a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports playera famous personstar a famous and successful actor, musician, or sportspersonShe dreamed of becoming a movie star.a talent show to find the stars of the futurecelebrity 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 talentThe magazine is full of gossip about celebrities.name a famous person whose name is known by many people – used especially in the following expressionsAll 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 phrasesMany advertisers use TV personalities to promote their products.He was chosen as sports personality of the year.a very famous personsuperstar an extremely famous performer, especially a musician or film actorThe 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 diedblues legend John Lee HookerJane 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 beenHe was one of the all-time soccer greats.
Examples from the Corpus
star• Fenster rating: 3 out of 5 stars.• When the dark edge of the satellite passed across a star, it dimmed briefly before the moment of eclipse.• After college, Weiss became a star in sports journalism.• His first movie made him a star.• Light and darkness, for example, are described before the sun, moon and stars.• They know the law of gravity that rules planets and stars and the universe at large.• Hollings' latest movie role could make her a big star.• James Caan was a big star in the '70s.• Sonya's the class star.• The flag's fifty stars represent the fifty states.• She was once married to a well-known football star.• If she had stayed, all would have been different; it wasn't in her stars to stay.• With the flash of a million stars exploding, his brain registered its outrage as he was viciously felled.• A., Aragon, much like a movie star, was mobbed wherever he went.• John Cusack is one of my favourite movie stars.• Woodward continues to be the Post's star reporter.• Eddie Murphy is one of the most successful stars in Hollywood.• Former tennis star Bj"rn Borg also attended the reception.• Peter Fonda is best known as the star of 'Easy Rider' and other 1960s biker films.• They're all strong players, but Laura's undoubtedly the star of the team.• The stars are beautiful tonight.• If he becomes a big TV star, we'll probably never hear from him again.• 'Blair Witch' star Heather Donahue has landed a new role in a college reunion film called 'Seven and a Match'.under the stars• Could there be anything more annoying under the stars?• They're much better off dancing the night away under the stars with a friend or two.• She walked slowly down the path that led to the pool, where there was a nightly barbecue under the stars.• They slept in boardinghouses, not under the stars.• Remember, all her life she had wandered from place to place, sleeping in a tent or under the stars.• These are the lures that pushed us to pitch tents and sleep under the stars.• He slept under the stars and spent all day watching the sea.• For a long time they just held each other there under the stars.the star of the show• But the star of the show, or at least the back seat of Armstrong, was Simon the Stripping Sexton.• And now for the star of the show!• The dark, chocolatey Three Finger Jack Hefedunkel is the star of the show.• From his public comments it even mystifies the general director, Jeremy Isaacs, the star of the show.• This piece is probably the star of the show.• In Italy, Mehta was the star of the show.• And with the exception of a well-known pop musician, the stars of the show are all women.• Animals were the stars of the show and children.• Voice over Here the stars for the day rub shoulders with the stars of the show.starstar2 ●●○ verb (starred, starring) 1 [intransitive]APAMACTOR/ACTRESS if someone stars in a film, television show etc, they are one of the main characters in itstar 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]APAMACTOR/ACTRESS 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 Streepstar somebody as ... The movie starred Orson Welles as Harry Lime.3 WRITE[transitive] to put an asterisk (=a star-shaped mark) next to something written The starred items are available.Grammar Star is usually passive in this meaning.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
star• Paul Winfield and Kevin Hooks also star.• The most important points have been starred.• Attenborough's 1987 "Cry Freedom" starred Denzel Washington.• Andy Vaughan starred for Wilmslow reaching an unbeaten 59 off only 42 deliveries.• Hollywood heart-throb Keanu Reeves is set to star in a true story based on a newspaper article from the Times.• Silverman also starred in "Brighton Beach Memoirs."• Danny Aiello stars in this comedy about New York's first big lottery winner.• M.D. In sixty-four stage productions, so far - starring in twenty-six of them in London.• Director Jane Campion's latest film, which stars Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel, was one of the highlights of the New York Film Festival.• The film stars Patricia Arquette and is directed by Steven Brill.• Doyle's explosive shot starred the side window.star with/opposite• Wagner set his sights on a degree in electrical engineering, and he followed his star with a fervid intensity.• They're much better off dancing the night away under the stars with a friend or two.• The stars with a soft smile.• He was born when Brigitte was at the top, living as a spoilt star with actor-husband Jacques Charrier.• I recall, in my confusion, being inanely impressed by a pop star with enough upstairs to remember his own name.• Generally, such phenomena are interpreted in terms of the interaction between steady winds from young stars with material in the surrounding cloud.• The first propellant segment is moulded into an eleven-point star with the points facing inward.From Longman Business Dictionarystarstar /stɑːstɑːr/ noun [countable]MARKETING in the GROWTH/SHARE MATRIX, a company or product with quite a large share of a market that is growing quicklyOrigin star1 Old English steorra 