noun

• 1A pattern of lines or rays radiating from a central object or source of light.

  as modifier ‘a starburst pattern’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The viewer was greeted by a starburst of white lines radiating from the center of a yellow, rectangular, floor-to-ceiling field.’
  • ‘Infected kernels may be pink or show a white starburst pattern radiating from the top of the kernel.’
  • ‘You will begin to see patterns and colours and starbursts.’
  • ‘I have two lovely old baking pans with a starburst pattern on them.’
  • ‘The relationships of species A and D haplotypes form a starburst pattern that is highly characteristic of a population expansion.’
  • ‘The deftly rendered portraits of the latter two are surrounded by a starburst pattern of the sort seen in comic books.’
  • ‘The walls were painted, the floors carpeted, the skylights covered with matching fabric, and the central ceiling made into a dynamic starburst of tricolored panels of glass called Afro Kaleidoscope.’
  • ‘Their black satin pants and jackets gleam in the sun, starbursts of acrylic colour flickering down each arm.’
  • ‘Fusarium ear rot may be accompanied by starburst patterns on the kernels.’
  • ‘It was a gold plated solid bangle with starburst patterns.’
  • ‘They had differently coloured typefaces, borders, a starburst filled with the word ‘victims’.’
  • ‘But if you don't know what the flag looks like (red, white and green bars with a yellow starburst in the center), you wouldn't know the context of these images.’
  • ‘The plate was absolute eye candy, featuring the stuffed haunch at centre surrounded by a starburst of alternating green and orange purées.’
  • ‘Welders will this week attach 180 steel spikes, each 22m long, that will create the starburst affect.’
  • ‘Her eyes took on a deep rose hue, golden spokes radiating outwards from her pupils, creating an eerie starburst effect.’
  • ‘On that stormy day, however, she was wearing sky blue contacts with a starburst pattern.’
  • ‘The patterns and motifs are highly complex, ranging from starbursts and amoebic shapes to flowers and birds.’
  • ‘They entered a cavern filled with green trees and brilliant starbursts of flowers.’
  • ‘In the middle of the band was a large rectangular plate with a large glittering starburst.’
  • ‘Forest entomologists call this inch-and-a-half-long insect with starburst spots on burnished black wings potentially the worst ecological disaster North American forests have ever seen.’

  1. 1.1An explosion producing a starburst effect.
     ‘The starburst sound effect continues to blow the listener out of the room on high volume.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Above the trenches, starbursts of artillery lit the sky, dissolving into green and red and orange streaks.’
     • ‘As the voices grow quieter and then fall into silence, somewhere a child lights off a Roman candle, and the resulting starburst reminds those gathered of a prayer answered, a request granted.’
     • ‘A starburst of a billion rivets was thrown very high into the air.’
     • ‘A starburst of gray dust exploded across the front of her shirt, but there was no tear or rip on the fabric itself.’
     • ‘The next moment a fist slammed into his chin and his world exploded in a starburst of pain.’
     • ‘She felt her whole body tense the moment before it exploded in a starburst of fire.’
     • ‘A few seconds separated two explosions, and when the spectacle was done, all that remained was free-floating shield energy, and a million tiny pieces flying away from the Destroyer in a starburst pattern.’
     • ‘With the repeal of the Licensing Act and the passing of the Copyright Act, the early 18th century saw a starburst of literary activity and this meant that the writing life was soon seen as a suitable occupation for ‘gentlemen’.’
  2. 1.2A camera lens attachment that produces a pattern of rays around the image of a source of light.
     ‘Or opt for a rhinestone detail such as a starburst on the lower half of the lens.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He is also being asked about the starburst in one of the first images he captured.’
  3. 1.3A period of intense activity in a galaxy involving the formation of stars.
     ‘Here the star formation rate may be higher, so these galaxies are called starbursts.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found new populations of suspected mid-mass black holes in several starburst galaxies, where stars form and explode at an unusually high rate.’
     • ‘On a grander scale, the new nebula observations could hold clues to star formation in distant galaxies, including so-called starburst galaxies, in which stars are forming like gangbusters.’
     • ‘Pods strung on armatures and made into shapes that evoke crowns, starbursts and galaxies add human or celestial content and help the natural materials transcend their roots.’
     • ‘Hazy, hot, and hidden: dust-laden clouds at the centers of some galaxies may enshroud titanic starburst or baby quasars.’
     • ‘The density of stars makes the region in and around the Arches cluster a microcosm of what is likely occurring in starburst galaxies.’
     • ‘Nestled among other starburst regions within the small galaxy, nebula NGC 346 alone contains more than 2500 infant stars.’
     • ‘Science fiction conjures up all manner of dangerous aliens and starbursts and quirky, mind-bending ripples in space and time.’
     • ‘In both cases the galaxy is at a much lower redshift than the associated quasars, and is often disturbed in form or unusually active in showing starburst activity or in producing considerable radio emission.’