the Milky Way
noun
1
: a broad band of light that can be seen in the night sky and that is caused by the light of a very large number of faint stars
2
: the galaxy in which we live that contains the stars that make up the Milky Way
Examples of the Milky Way in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One third of people alive today can’t see the Milky Way from their homes because of light pollution.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May 2026
But extremely long-exposure images reveal that Malin 1’s spiral arms include very dim and intricate extensions that span a staggering 650,000 light-years, making this galaxy approximately six times wider than the Milky Way!
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 29 May 2026
The fact that red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Milky Way, accounting for around 75% of the stars in our galaxy, means this type of planetary engulfment may be extremely common.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 29 May 2026
Attempts to build versions with a star cluster around the black hole similar to that seen in the Milky Way led to a much less accurate match to the real-world data.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May 2026
But extremely long-exposure images reveal that Malin 1’s spiral arms include very dim and intricate extensions that span a staggering 650,000 light-years, making this galaxy approximately six times wider than the Milky Way!
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 29 May 2026
The fact that red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Milky Way, accounting for around 75% of the stars in our galaxy, means this type of planetary engulfment may be extremely common.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 29 May 2026
Attempts to build versions with a star cluster around the black hole similar to that seen in the Milky Way led to a much less accurate match to the real-world data.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for the Milky Way
Cite this Entry
“The Milky Way.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20Milky%20Way. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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