Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To set or adorn with stars or with brilliants; star.
  • To make a star of; set as a star.
  • noun Any one of the periods of an insect's life between two molts. The period immediately after hatching is said to be the first instar, and that after the first molt the second instar. If a caterpillar molts four times the pupa is the sixth instar and the adult the seventh. The term originated with Fischer in 1853, but has only recently been generally adopted.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a postembryonic stage of life of an arthropod, especially an insect, between two successive molts; also, the arthropod when in that stage of life.
  • transitive verb rare To stud as with stars.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb archaic To stud with stars.
  • noun Any one of the several stages of postembryonic development which an arthropod undergoes, between molts, before it reaches sexual maturity.
  • noun An arthropod at a specified one of these stages of development.
  • noun by extension A stage in development.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an insect or other arthropod between molts

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

in- +‎ star

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin instar ("form, likeness").

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Examples

Comments

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  • between molts - in formation

    January 28, 2008