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Definitions

nova

[noh-vuh] / ˈnoʊ və /
NOUN
variable star that suddenly erupts
Synonyms
STRONGEST
STRONG
WEAK
aster orb


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

At the same time, Dean likes to roam through breezy soft rock, ghostly piano laments and bossa nova by way of Dionne Warwick.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 26, 2026

Dean’s set was full of classic stuff — pastel-hued horns, bossa nova piano, winking choreo from her full-suited backing band.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 15, 2026

The project, released just before Coachella, blended a diverse range of rhythms such as pop, Brazilian funk, R&B and bossa nova -- a mix that, for Sonza, is the essence of Brazil.

From Barron's Apr. 13, 2026

A nova happens in a close binary system when a white dwarf, the dense leftover core of a star, pulls gas from a nearby companion.

From Science Daily Dec. 31, 2025

Nevertheless, the nova marks, quite precisely, the beginning of the Revolution, as the death of the archduke marks the beginning of the war.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Other elements were formed later, by nuclear reactions inside stars or when stars exploded in events known as novae or supernovae.

From Science Daily May 10, 2024

There is not yet enough observational data for chlorine to confirm this and it provides a testable hypothesis to check the validity of the ONe novae model.

From Science Daily May 10, 2024

Some even linked this possibility with novae observed in the sky — sudden bursts of light that dazzle the midnight firmament.

From Salon Aug. 12, 2023

"I was looking for a much more common type of outburst called novae."

From Scientific American May 3, 2023

The super-bright novae are called, logically enough, supernovae.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

There are more than 400 known novas in the Milky Way galaxy.

From New York Times Mar. 8, 2024

The Zwicky Transient Facility scans the sky for stars that rapidly change in brightness, which could be events such as novas.

From Scientific American May 3, 2023

There was a kind of cosmic rightness: two novas exploding together.

From New York Times Dec. 19, 2018

In the 1980s, Shara had predicted that novas, novalike systems and dwarf novas were the same stars in different stages of an eruption cycle.

From Washington Post Aug. 30, 2017

Arguments over the location of novas and comets in the heavens thus continued even after 1610, after which date the traditional Ptolemaic system was abandoned by all competent participants.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton



Vocabulary lists containing nova


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