orbits 1 of 2

noun

plural of orbit
as in loops

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orbits

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of orbit
as in circles
to travel completely around the moon orbits the Earth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of orbits
Noun
The kick stage will be able to take big payloads from LEO to higher-energy orbits — for example, up to 8,800 pounds (4,000 kg) to geostationary orbit, a popular hangout for spy, communications and weather satellites that lies 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above Earth. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 June 2026 Canadian and American researchers simulated satellite orbits in low Earth orbit and generated a metric, the CRASH Clock, that measures the number of days before collisions start happening if collision-avoidance maneuvers stop. — IEEE Spectrum, 21 Jan. 2026 The plan represents a departure for Europe’s top satellite makers, which have traditionally focused on large, complex spacecraft in high orbits, but the industry has been disrupted by Starlink’s small, relatively cheap, low-orbit machines. — Ben Smith, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
The large comet has a nucleus of 16 miles and orbits the sun every 133 years. — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 July 2026 Conversely, Earth also orbits the sun on an ellipse, so when our planet is at aphelion (its greatest solar distance), our star appears at its smallest in the sky, extending totality. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 17 July 2026 It was discovered almost a decade ago, and orbits a small red dwarf star called LHS 1140, which is almost 49 light-years away from our solar system. — Doyle Rice, USA Today, 16 July 2026 Searches have focused on binary systems where a star orbits a compact object, but until now astronomers had drawn a blank. — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 14 July 2026 As Earth orbits the sun, the sunset point shifts along the horizon through the year. — Jamie Carter, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026 Psyche is a nickel-iron core asteroid that orbits the sun beyond Mars anywhere from 235 million to 309 million miles away. — Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 July 2026 Over the course of a year, as Earth rotates and orbits the Sun, a person in a very dark location could see around 6,000 stars without binoculars or a telescope. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026 Much of our social life, our ways of making and sharing a world, orbits the face. — Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for orbits
  1. loops
  2. circles
  3. circuits
  4. traverses
  5. paths
  6. rings
  7. trajectories
  8. pathways
Noun
  • One user request now triggers chains of model calls, tool executions, retrieval steps and recursive planning loops.
    — Srikanta Datta, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Solar prominences One of the most surprising aspects of witnessing a total solar eclipse is a view of prominences during totality, bright pink spikes or loops that appear around the moon's silhouette.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of loops
Verb
  • The job search can be a draining process, especially when applications go unanswered, AI hysteria circles the internet, and interviews end with little to no feedback.
    — Alyshia Hull, USA Today, 28 July 2026
  • Whenever the calendar comes out, Amanda Mendoza VanCleave circles the dates.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
Definition of circles
Noun
  • If either of those circuits sides with the Tax Court’s functional test, a formal circuit split will emerge, creating the classic recipe for Supreme Court review.
    — Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 11 June 2026
  • Then, looking at the amp rating of your circuits (most laundry appliances require a 15–30 amp circuit).
    — Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Aug. 2025
Definition of circuits
Verb
  • In your periphery to the left, a spacewalker traverses the exterior of the station.
    — Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 26 July 2026
  • The Golden State might be a West Coast utopia, but then Californians live on a fault line that traverses most of it.
    — Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026
Definition of traverses
Noun
  • Four months later, the minor issue hit, blocking their relatives’ paths to citizenship.
    — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Their paths later crossed again, eventually culminating in their engagement in July 2025 on the Greek island of Santorini.
    — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of paths
Verb
  • The comeback saga rings ever so true for those in the movie theater industry, and for those millions of moviegoers who love to watch dazzling images on the huge silver screens of theaters.
    — Adam Aron, Variety, 29 July 2026
  • An old folk verse prices a simple life at two riyals for beans and one for bread — only half of that tune still rings true.
    — Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of rings
Noun
  • Superfast, maneuverable vehicles like Talon-A are tougher to track and intercept than ballistic missiles, which follow predictable trajectories despite moving fast.
    — Mike Wall, Space.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • And the factors pushing people out of the labor force have implications beyond workers paying for everyday essentials, including stunting career trajectories and impacting long-term retirement savings.
    — Sarah Jackson Jennifer Liu, CNBC, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of trajectories
Noun
  • Rubber pathways would be placed around the playground equipment to improve safety.
    — Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Smith, who brings years of experience in the health care industry, centered her campaign on increasing residents’ access to medical care, expanding access to voting and creating pathways for people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to be heard.
    — Sofi Zeman, Kansas City Star, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of pathways

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orbits
orbs
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Cite this Entry

“Orbits.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/orbits. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on orbits

Nglish: Translation of orbits for Spanish Speakers

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