stars

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of star.

   Thousands of stars were visible above the desert camp.

   Astronomers measured the distance to several nearby stars.

   Note

   A regular plural that serves every countable meaning of star at once: the bright points overhead, the asterisks and ★ symbols on a page, the right-hand and left-hand stars of a dance. The same spelling is also a verb form (she stars in the film), so context decides which is meant. With the and no particular stars in view, it can shift to outer space itself.

2. 2
   nounpluralwith the

   Outer space; the vast region beyond Earth, especially imagined as a destination for travel or exploration.

   Humanity has always longed to journey to the stars.

   Their probe vanished somewhere out among the stars.

   Similarspace, cosmos, heavens

   Note

   A plural that never singularizes and never drops its article: people journey to the stars or vanish among the stars, but never to a star in this meaning. Without the, the phrase falls back to the ordinary plural, counting particular stars rather than naming space at large. Prepositions of motion and location, such as to, among and out among, are its natural company.

3. 3
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of star.

   The actress stars in three films this year.

   A newcomer stars alongside the veteran cast.

   Note

   Two constructions share this form, and they point in opposite directions: the actress stars in a film, but the film stars the actress. The intransitive use takes in or alongside; the transitive one makes the production its subject. The same form also covers marking with an asterisk, as when an editor stars a passage for review.

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