star

[[t]stɑ͟ː(r)[/t]]

♦

stars, starring, starred

1) N-COUNT A star is a large ball of burning gas in space. Stars appear to us as small points of light in the sky on clear nights.

→ See also , shooting star

The nights were pure with cold air and lit with stars.

2) N-COUNT You can refer to a shape or an object as a star when it has four, five, or more points sticking out of it in a regular pattern.

Children at school receive coloured stars for work well done.

3) N-COUNT You can say how many stars something such as a hotel or restaurant has as a way of talking about its quality, which is often indicated by a number of star-shaped symbols. The more stars something has, the better it is.

...five star hotels.

4) N-COUNT: oft supp N Famous actors, musicians, and sports players are often referred to as stars.

...Gemma, 41, star of the TV series Pennies From Heaven...

By now Murphy is Hollywood's top male comedy star...

Not all football stars are ill-behaved louts.

5) VERB If an actor or actress stars in a play or film, he or she has one of the most important parts in it.

[V in n] The previous year Adolphson had starred in a play in which Ingrid had been an extra...

[V in n] He's starred in dozens of films.

6) VERB If a play or film stars a famous actor or actress, he or she has one of the most important parts in it.

[V n] ...the BBC's new satirical show, That Was The Week That Was, which starred David Frost.

[V n] ...a Hollywood film, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Anthony Quinn.

Syn:

feature

7) N-PLURAL Predictions about people's lives which are based on astrology and appear regularly in a newspaper or magazine are sometimes referred to as the stars.

There was nothing in my stars to say I'd have travel problems!

Syn:

horoscope

8) PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR that If you say that someone should thank their lucky stars that something is the case, you mean that they should be very grateful that it is the case, because otherwise their situation would be a lot worse.

Thank your lucky stars you're out of London.