Home / Dictionary / Orb

Orb Common

Orb has 7 different meanings across 2 categories:

Noun · Verb

Definitions
Noun
1

the ball-shaped capsule containing the vertebrate eye

"The surgeon carefully removed the discolored orb to treat the patient's infection."

2

an object with a spherical shape

"a ball of fire"

3

A spherical body; a sphere, especially one of the celestial spheres; a sun, planet, or star

"The developer logged into ORB to retrieve the requested data from the distributed system."

4

A blank window or panel.

5

Initialism of object request broker.

In plain English: An orb is a perfectly round shape, like a ball or a glowing circle of light.

"A large, round glass orb hung from the ceiling to light up the room."

Usage: Use "orb" to refer specifically to round celestial bodies like planets or stars rather than generic spheres. Avoid using it as a casual synonym for any ball-shaped object unless emphasizing its astronomical context.

Verb
1

move in an orbit

"The moon orbits around the Earth"

"The planets are orbiting the sun"

"electrons orbit the nucleus"

2

To form into an orb or circle.

"The molten lava cooled and congealed until it began to solidify into a perfect orb."

In plain English: To orbit means to move around something else, usually because of gravity pulling you toward it while you travel along a curved path.

"The spinning top orbed across the floor until it hit the wall."

Example Sentences
"A large, round glass orb hung from the ceiling to light up the room." noun
"He stared at the glowing orb on his desk that he had carved from glass." noun
"The children played with the shiny plastic orb in the park." noun
"She held the crystal orb up to catch the sunlight and watch it refract." noun
"The spinning top orbed across the floor until it hit the wall." verb
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
capsule sphere circle
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
crystal ball mothball time-ball fireball globule spherule pellet bolus retrograde

Origin

The word entered English via the Old French orbe and originally meant a circle before coming to refer specifically to a sphere in space. Its meaning has remained consistent throughout its history as it traveled through these languages into modern usage.

Rhyming Words
borb corb zorb forb sorb inorb absorb disorb resorb desorb adsorb bad orb readsorb coadsorb reabsorb preadsorb bioadsorb bioabsorb preabsorb chemisorb
Compare
Orb vs