Kuiper Belt

noun

Kui·​per Belt ˈkī-pər- How to pronounce Kuiper Belt (audio)
: a band of small celestial bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune from which many short-period comets are believed to originate compare oort cloud

Examples of Kuiper Belt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto in 2015, returning stunning images and other data about the Kuiper Belt Object Formerly Known as a Planet. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2024 Tens of thousands of such robots would slowly work their way through rocks in our solar system’s Main Asteroid Belt and eventually the outer solar system —- including the icy objects of the Kuiper Belt, and the far distant Oort Cloud of comets, says Cockell. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 28 Sep. 2024 Comets, the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud Planetary Data System. Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 17 Sep. 2024 The results of Subaru's search of the outer Kuiper Belt were published on Thursday in two papers (published here and here) in the Planetary Science Journal. Jamie Carter, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for Kuiper Belt 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Kuiper Belt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Gerald A. Kuiper †1973 U.S. (Dutch-born) astronomer

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Kuiper Belt was in 1988

Dictionary Entries Near Kuiper Belt

Cite this Entry

“Kuiper Belt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kuiper%20Belt. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!