LIGHT-YEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does light-year mean? 

• LIGHT-YEAR (noun)
  The noun LIGHT-YEAR has 1 sense:

1. the distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year; 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers

  Familiarity information: LIGHT-YEAR used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIGHT-YEAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The distance that light travels in a vacuum in 1 year; 5.88 trillion miles or 9.46 trillion kilometers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

light-year; light year

Hypernyms ("light-year" is a kind of...):

astronomy unit (a linear unit used for astronomical distances)

Meronyms (parts of "light-year"):

light hour (the distance light travels in a vacuum in one hour; approximately one billion kilometers)

light minute (the distance light travels in a vacuum in one minute; approximately 18 million kilometers)

light second (the distance light travels in a vacuum in one second; approximately 300,000 kilometers)

 Context examples 

The results are consistent with the black hole having a patchy, spherical web of dust located a few trillion miles (half a light-year) from the black hole itself.

(Studies Find Echoes of Black Holes Eating Stars, NASA)