Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various very massive, large, and bright stars, such as Betelgeuse or Rigel, having a luminosity that is thousands of times greater than that of the sun. When a supergiant collapses into a supernova, it may result in either a neutron star or a black hole.

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

  • noun astronomy : A very large star having a mass between 10 and 70 solar masses

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

  • noun an extremely bright star of very large diameter and low density

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Scientists say the term "supergiant" was coined by US researchers when they found some large amphipods in the early 1980s.

    The Independent - Frontpage RSS Feed 2012

  • Betelgeuse is classified as a supergiant star, and its diameter is approximately 1,000 times that of the sun.

    Slashdot: Science 2009

  • The Lula field will be Brazil's first "supergiant" oil field, with a recoverable volume above five billion BOE, Mr. Barbassa said.

    New Petrobras Fields Make Their Mark Diana Kinch 2010

  • Never again will I use the word "supergiant" lightly ...

    Seven Songs Dr. Lisa 2006

  • Petrobras said the Lula field was Brazil's biggest, a "supergiant" field with an estimated

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Petrobras said the Lula field was Brazil's biggest, a "supergiant" field with an estimated

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2010

  • Two big oilfields, including the 12.6 billion barrel "supergiant" Majnoon, were awarded on Friday, as oil majors from Asia and the West put aside concerns over security three days after car bombs killed 112 people in the Iraqi capital.

    Yahoo! News: Latest news headlines News Headlines | Top Stories 2009

  • Major oil companies gain foothold in Iraq multinational players are hopeful of lucrative developments in the future More than six-and-a-half years after the US-led invasion that oil companies to rebuild its ailing infrastructure during two today won the contract for one of Iraq's "supergiant" oilfields, as part of a two-day auction intended to boost dramatically the

    WN.com - Articles related to 3G spectrum auction on schedule: Raja 2009

  • Security fears weigh on Iraq's 2nd oil auction oil companies with its mother lode of oil met with mixed results Friday, with only two fears in the country as they began bidding Friday on the biggest stake in today won the contract for one of Iraq's "supergiant" oilfields, as part of a two-day auction intended to boost dramatically the

    WN.com - Articles related to Iraq premier opens auctions for 10 oil fields 2009

  • A "joint bid by Russian and Norwegian oil firms won the contract for the 'supergiant' West Qurna field, said to have reserves of 13bn barrels."

    Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day 2009

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