Meaning & use
galaxy
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Meanings
nouncountable
A very large group of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity.
Grammar: Countable; you can say 'a galaxy' or 'galaxies'.
Patterns
- a galaxy of stars
- the Milky Way galaxy
Our solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy.
The telescope captured images of a distant galaxy.
Galaxies come in many shapes, such as spiral and elliptical.
nouncountablefigurative
A large or impressive group of famous or talented people or things.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase 'a galaxy of' followed by a plural noun.
Patterns
- a galaxy of talent
- a galaxy of stars
The film features a galaxy of Hollywood talent.
The conference brought together a galaxy of experts.
Word forms
| plural | galaxies |
|---|
Common combinations
- spiral galaxy
- The Andromeda Galaxy is a spiral galaxy.
- distant galaxy
- Astronomers study distant galaxies to understand the early universe.
- galaxy of talent
- The cast is a galaxy of talent.
- Milky Way galaxy
- The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of stars.
Synonyms and how they differ
- star system
- A group of stars bound by gravity, but usually smaller than a galaxy; a galaxy contains many star systems.
- constellation
- A pattern of stars as seen from Earth, not a physical system like a galaxy.
Word family
- galactic adjective
- Relating to a galaxy.
- intergalactic adjective
- Between galaxies.
Commonly confused: galaxy or solar system? galaxy or constellation?
galaxy vs solar system
A solar system is a star and the objects orbiting it; a galaxy is a huge collection of stars, including many solar systems.
galaxy vs constellation
A constellation is a recognizable pattern of stars in the sky, not a physical group like a galaxy.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'galaxy' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Galaxy' is a noun for a large system of stars, so it fits in option 0. The other options use it as a verb, in an odd phrase, or with a wrong definition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “galaxy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.