star

1 noun (C)

1 IN THE SKY a burning mass of gases in space that can be seen at night as a point of light in the sky: I lay on my back and looked up at the stars.

—see also: falling star, shooting star

2 PERFORMER

a) a famous and successful performer in entertainment or sport: film/movie star: There were pictures of film stars all over the walls. | pop star (=famous popular music singer) | big star (=very famous performer): By the age of twenty she was already a big star. | star quality (=something that makes you seem special, and likely to be a star) | rising star (=someone who is becoming successful and famous): a rising star in the music world

b) someone who acts the part of the main character in a film or play: The star of his next movie was an unknown young actress. | the star part (=the most important part in a film or play) | child star (=a child who has an important part in a film) | the star of the show (=the person who gives the best performance in a play, film etc)

—see also: star 2

3 SHAPE

a) a shape with four or more points which is supposed to look like a star in the sky: A five-pointed star is called a pentagram.

—see picture at shape 1

b) a mark in this shape, used to draw attention to something written; asterisk

c) a piece of cloth or metal in this shape, worn to show someone's rank or position

4 HOTELS/RESTAURANTS a mark used in a system for judging the quality of hotels and restaurants: three-star/four-star/five-star: a two-star bed and breakfast

5 the stars

a) informal a horoscope (=description of what will happen to you in the future) that is printed in newspapers or magazines: read your stars: I never read my stars - I don't believe any of it anyway.

b) literary a force that controls what will happen in the future; fate (2): written in the stars (=decided by this)

—see also: star­crossed

6 SUCCESSFUL PERSON informal someone who is particularly successful at a job, course of study etc: I was the star of my village because I won a place at the school in Nayoumi. | a star player/performer/salesman etc: the Academy's star pupil | shining star (=very successful person)

7 you're/she's a star! informal used to say that someone is very good at something or thank someone for helping you

8 star turn the main or best performer or event in a performance: Our star turn was a fire-eating act.

9 star attraction the most interesting person or thing, that most people want to see

10 see stars to see flashes of light, especially because you have been hit on the head: I felt a little dizzy and could see stars.

11 have stars in your eyes to imagine that something you want to do is much more exciting or attractive than it really is

—see also: starry­eyed

12 four star (petrol) BrE high quality petrol that has lead (lead3 (1)) in it

—see also: evening star, four­star general, five star general, morning star, guiding star guiding, born under a lucky/unlucky star born 2 (10), reach for the stars reach 1 (8), thank your lucky stars thank (6) 2