Illustration of orrery
plural orreries
: an apparatus showing the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by balls moved by a clockwork
Examples of orrery in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the 1700s, the orrery, a clockwork model of the Solar System, was developed.
—
Martin Bush,
Space.com,
5 July 2025
The discovery underscored how Earth was not the center of the universe, but a small player in an orrery of smaller orbs spinning around greater ones.
—
science.org,
19 Sep. 2024
The most striking addition to their dark jumble shop are several balls, such as a soccer ball and the bright red sphere of a punching bag, on stands, which turns the whole room into a janky orrery—a model of a planetary system—with a Spalding basketball playing the Earth.
—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2024
By the 1950s, the traditional Copernican orrery was in need of an electronic upgrade.
—
IEEE Spectrum,
1 Oct. 2023
And like a globe, an orrery also serves a practical function.
—
Jay Bennett and Jennifer Leman,
Popular Mechanics,
19 Jan. 2021
Hippolyta finds in the orrery, which send her to the observatory (the numbers are 39.805499 and -95.159492).
—
Ariana Romero,
refinery29.com,
28 Sep. 2020
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Martin Bush,
Space.com,
5 July 2025
The discovery underscored how Earth was not the center of the universe, but a small player in an orrery of smaller orbs spinning around greater ones.
—
science.org,
19 Sep. 2024
The most striking addition to their dark jumble shop are several balls, such as a soccer ball and the bright red sphere of a punching bag, on stands, which turns the whole room into a janky orrery—a model of a planetary system—with a Spalding basketball playing the Earth.
—
Helen Shaw,
The New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2024
By the 1950s, the traditional Copernican orrery was in need of an electronic upgrade.
—
IEEE Spectrum,
1 Oct. 2023
And like a globe, an orrery also serves a practical function.
—
Jay Bennett and Jennifer Leman,
Popular Mechanics,
19 Jan. 2021
Hippolyta finds in the orrery, which send her to the observatory (the numbers are 39.805499 and -95.159492).
—
Ariana Romero,
refinery29.com,
28 Sep. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Orrery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orrery. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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