or·bit·al
ˈȯr-bə-tᵊl 
1
: of, relating to, or forming an orbit (such as the orbit of a moon, planet, or spacecraft)
the orbital path of a satellite
The Gregorian calendar is purely based on the position of the sun as seen from Earth, and is closely related to the Earth's orbital period.—
Martin George
Martin GeorgeIn October 1957, a whirling orbital ball known as Sputnik roused Americans from their slumber and set into motion a rethinking of our educational system.—Sam Wineburg
Sam WineburgBlue Origin is also developing a crew capsule that might carry passengers by year's end. But that capsule is intended for brief up-and-down hops, not orbital flights, by tourists.—Marcia Dunn
Marcia Dunn2
chiefly British, of a roadway
: following a circular path around an urban area
The 117-mile orbital motorway encircles London and links to Heathrow and Gatwick airports.—Paul Harper
Paul Harper
: of, relating to, or located near the orbit of the eye
orbital bones
He required 23 stitches to his face and had an orbital fracture below his left eye.—Rachel Rosenbaum
Rachel Rosenbaum
plural orbitals
physics
: a mathematically described region around a nucleus in an atom or molecule that may contain zero, one, or two electrons
Electrons arrange themselves in cloudlike regions around the nucleus called orbitals. These orbitals are designated by numbers for their energy level and letters (s, p, d, f) for their shape.—Beth Mole
Beth MoleExamples of orbital in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebFox News, 20 Mar. 2024
The models also calculated how the orbital period evolved.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2024
This orbital length classifies it as a Halley-type comet, a comet with an orbital period of 20 to 200 years.
—Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
Likened to Halley's comet, which has an orbit of 76 years around the sun, 12P/Pons-Brooks is a short-period comet, meaning one that has an orbital period of between 20 and 200 years.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
One firm stands out as an innovator in the face of obstacles like orbital debris and the impending danger of hostile actions: Guardiansat™.
—Kyle Russell, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024
The devil comet travels on an orbital period of 71 years and was last seen in 1954.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
SpaceX has a lot more to accomplish with Starship before then, including more than one orbital flight, refueling in low-Earth orbit and an uncrewed test landing on the moon, writes Science’s Michael Greshko.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024
Solar eclipses occur because the moon’s orbital path intercepts what astronomers call the ecliptic—the apparent path the sun takes through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
And those orbitals have an equally specific orientation within the crystal.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 Aug. 2023
Theoretical considerations suggest that electrons from specific orbitals of the atoms within the crystal will be doing the superconducting.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 Aug. 2023
The attack left the victim with a fractured orbital, a broken nose, swelling and bruising to his face, San Diego police spokesperson Mark Herring said.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2023
For this, the ideal atoms are ones that have unpaired electrons swarming around the nucleus in what are known as 3d orbitals.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Nov. 2023
With a high-power ultraviolet laser, the scientists excited the electrons of these atoms to Rydberg orbitals far from their atomic nuclei.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Oct. 2023
With pulses that short, observers can harness a free-electron laser to see individual atoms in motion, molecules making and breaking bonds, and even electron orbitals in excitation.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Sep. 2023
As researchers discovered decades ago, magnetic strength can be greatly improved by adding to the crystalline lattice atoms with unpaired electrons in the 4f orbital—notably the rare-earth elements neodymium, samarium, and dysprosium.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023
Adjective
Chesley said the asteroid's orbital period continued to decay slowly in the weeks after the impact.
—Fox News, 20 Mar. 2024
The models also calculated how the orbital period evolved.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 20 Mar. 2024
This orbital length classifies it as a Halley-type comet, a comet with an orbital period of 20 to 200 years.
—Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024
Likened to Halley's comet, which has an orbit of 76 years around the sun, 12P/Pons-Brooks is a short-period comet, meaning one that has an orbital period of between 20 and 200 years.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
One firm stands out as an innovator in the face of obstacles like orbital debris and the impending danger of hostile actions: Guardiansat™.
—Kyle Russell, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024
The devil comet travels on an orbital period of 71 years and was last seen in 1954.
—Leah Sarnoff, ABC News, 18 Mar. 2024
SpaceX has a lot more to accomplish with Starship before then, including more than one orbital flight, refueling in low-Earth orbit and an uncrewed test landing on the moon, writes Science’s Michael Greshko.
—Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 2024
Solar eclipses occur because the moon’s orbital path intercepts what astronomers call the ecliptic—the apparent path the sun takes through our daytime sky.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 9 Feb. 2024
Noun
In a video shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), Gonzalez was captured foul-tipping the ball into his face, fracturing his right orbital, before falling to the ground in pain.
—Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
And those orbitals have an equally specific orientation within the crystal.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 Aug. 2023
Theoretical considerations suggest that electrons from specific orbitals of the atoms within the crystal will be doing the superconducting.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 Aug. 2023
The attack left the victim with a fractured orbital, a broken nose, swelling and bruising to his face, San Diego police spokesperson Mark Herring said.
—Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Dec. 2023
For this, the ideal atoms are ones that have unpaired electrons swarming around the nucleus in what are known as 3d orbitals.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Nov. 2023
With a high-power ultraviolet laser, the scientists excited the electrons of these atoms to Rydberg orbitals far from their atomic nuclei.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Oct. 2023
With pulses that short, observers can harness a free-electron laser to see individual atoms in motion, molecules making and breaking bonds, and even electron orbitals in excitation.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Sep. 2023
As researchers discovered decades ago, magnetic strength can be greatly improved by adding to the crystalline lattice atoms with unpaired electrons in the 4f orbital—notably the rare-earth elements neodymium, samarium, and dysprosium.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 Mar. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'orbital.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near orbital
Cite this Entry
“Orbital.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/orbital. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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orbital
noun
or·bit·al
ˈȯr-bət-ᵊl
: a subdivision of a nuclear shell containing zero, one, or two electrons
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