Meaning & use
astrobiologist
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Meanings
nouncountablebiology
A scientist who investigates whether life exists or could exist on other planets and moons, and how life began on Earth.
Grammar: Countable: an astrobiologist; the field is astrobiology.
Patterns
- an astrobiologist at something
- an astrobiologist studying something
The astrobiologist hopes to find signs of microbes under the ice of a distant moon.
An astrobiologist at the university studies life in extreme places on Earth.
Astrobiologists were excited by the discovery of water on Mars.
nouncountablespecialist
A researcher who studies organisms in very harsh environments on Earth, such as deep-sea vents, to learn how life might survive elsewhere.
Grammar: Often described by what kind of environment they study: a polar astrobiologist.
Patterns
- study extremophiles
The astrobiologist collected samples from a hot spring.
Astrobiologists study bacteria that survive in acid lakes.
The team's astrobiologist explained why Antarctic microbes matter for space research.
Word forms
| plural | astrobiologists |
|---|
Common combinations
- NASA astrobiologist
- A NASA astrobiologist spoke at the science festival.
- leading astrobiologist
- A leading astrobiologist argued that life could exist under Europa's ice.
- work as an astrobiologist
- She dreamed of working as an astrobiologist.
- astrobiologist says
- An astrobiologist says the sample shows promising chemistry.
- team of astrobiologists
- A team of astrobiologists examined the meteorite.
Synonyms and how they differ
- exobiologist
- Exobiologist is an older term for a scientist of life beyond Earth, though astrobiologist is now more common and broader.
- biologist
- A biologist studies living things in general, while an astrobiologist focuses on life in space or its origins.
- astronomer
- An astronomer studies stars and planets themselves, whereas an astrobiologist asks whether those places could hold life.
- planetary scientist
- A planetary scientist studies the physical makeup of planets, and an astrobiologist adds the question of life.
Word family
- astrobiology noun
- the science of life in the universe
- astrobiological adjective
- relating to astrobiology
- biologist noun
- a scientist who studies living things
- extremophile noun
- an organism that thrives in extreme conditions
Commonly confused: astrobiologist or astrologist? astrobiologist or astronomer?
astrobiologist vs astrologist
An astrologist claims to read stars to predict human fate, which is not science, whereas an astrobiologist is a real scientist who studies life.
astrobiologist vs astronomer
An astronomer studies space and its objects; an astrobiologist studies the possibility of life in them.
Practice
Who would most likely study whether tiny organisms could survive beneath the ice of a moon of Jupiter?
Choose one answer.
An astrobiologist studies the possibility of life beyond Earth. An astrologer works with horoscopes, and a meteorologist studies weather.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “astrobiologist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.