white dwarf

noun

plural white dwarfs
: a small hot whitish star of low intrinsic brightness usually with a mass approximately equal to that of the sun but with a density many times larger

Examples of white dwarf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Their relationship is even more involved than that — the gravitational pull of the white dwarf is actually stretching Wolf 1130A into an egg shape toward it. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2025 Another potential cause is a white dwarf — a dead star as heavy as our sun but condensed to the size of Earth — being ripped apart by a rare intermediate-mass black hole. Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 22 Sep. 2025 But can life even exist on a planet orbiting a white dwarf? Juliette Becker, The Conversation, 28 Aug. 2025 Eventually, gravity will pull them back together again, and the celestial dance of the white dwarf collecting energy from its companion star will start over. Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for white dwarf

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of white dwarf was in 1922

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Cite this Entry

“White dwarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/white%20dwarf. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

white dwarf

noun
: a small whitish star of low brightness that has a mass approximately equal to that of the sun but that is many times more dense

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