Eclipse

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: e=clipse

CIDE DICTIONARY

Eclipse, n. [F. éclipse, L. eclipsis, fr. Gr. 'e`kleipsis, prop., a forsaking, failing, fr. 'eklei`pein to leave out, forsake; 'ek out + lei`pein to leave. See Ex-, and Loan.].

•  An interception or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or other luminous body, by the intervention of some other body, either between it and the eye, or between the luminous body and that illuminated by it. A lunar eclipse is caused by the moon passing through the earth's shadow; a solar eclipse, by the moon coming between the sun and the observer. A satellite is eclipsed by entering the shadow of its primary. The obscuration of a planet or star by the moon or a planet, though of the nature of an eclipse, is called an occultation. The eclipse of a small portion of the sun by Mercury or Venus is called a transit of the planet.  [1913 Webster]

  " In ancient times, eclipses were, and among unenlightened people they still are, superstitiously regarded as forerunners of evil fortune, a sentiment of which occasional use is made in literature."  [1913 Webster]

  "That fatal and perfidious bark,
  Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark."  [1913 Webster]
•  The loss, usually temporary or partial, of light, brilliancy, luster, honor, consciousness, etc.; obscuration; gloom; darkness.  [1913 Webster]

  "All the posterity of our fist parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life."  [1913 Webster]

  "As in the soft and sweet eclipse,
  When soul meets soul on lovers' lips."  [1913 Webster]

Annular eclipse. (Astron.) See under Annular. -- Cycle of eclipses. See under Cycle.

Eclipse, v. t. 

•  To cause the obscuration of; to darken or hide; -- said of a heavenly body; as, the moon eclipses the sun.  [1913 Webster]
•  To obscure, darken, or extinguish the beauty, luster, honor, etc., of; to sully; to cloud; to throw into the shade by surpassing.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]

  "My joy of liberty is half eclipsed."  [1913 Webster]

Eclipse, v. i. 

 To suffer an eclipse.  [1913 Webster]
"While the laboring moon
Eclipses at their charms."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Eclipse, n. & v.
--n.
1 the obscuring of the reflected light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the eye or between it and its source of illumination.
2 a deprivation of light or the period of this.
3 a rapid or sudden loss of importance or prominence, esp. in relation to another or a newly-arrived person or thing.
--v.tr.
1 (of a celestial body) obscure the light from or to (another).
2 intercept (light, esp. of a lighthouse).
3 deprive of prominence or importance; outshine, surpass.

Idiom

in eclipse
1 surpassed; in decline.
2 (of a bird) having lost its courting plumage.

Derivative

eclipser n.

Etymology

ME f. OF f. L f. Gk ekleipsis f. ekleipo fail to appear, be eclipsed f. leipo leave

THESAURUS

Eclipse

adumbrate, annular eclipse, apply to, bandage, becloud, bedarken, bedazzle, bedim, befog, begloom, benight, black, black out, blacken, blackout, blanket, blanketing, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, block, block the light, blockage, blocking, blot out, blotting out, brown, camouflage, canopy, cast a shadow, cementwork, central eclipse, cloak, cloaking, clothe, cloud, cloud over, clouding, coating, conceal, concealment, cope, cover, cover up, coverage, covering, cowl, curtain, curtaining, darken, darken over, darkening, daze, dazzle, decline, dematerialization, departure, deprive of sight, dim, dim out, dimming, disappearance, disappearing, disguise, dispersion, dissemble, dissipation, dissolution, dissolving, distract attention from, downturn, eclipsing, elimination, encloud, encompass with shadow, ensconce, enshroud, envelop, envelopment, enwrapment, enwrapping, erasure, evanescence, evaporation, excecate, extinction, extinguish, fadeaway, fadeout, fading, fake out, film, glare, gloom, gloss over, going, gouge, hide, hiding, hood, hoodwink, incrustation, keep under cover, lay on, lay over, laying on, lunar eclipse, make blind, mantle, mantling, mask, masking, melting, muffle, murk, obduce, obduction, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscuration, obscure, obscuring, obumbrate, occult, occultate, occultation, outshine, overcast, overcloud, overlay, overlaying, overshadow, overspread, overspreading, pargeting, partial eclipse, passing, plasterwork, put down, put on, put to shame, recession, screen, screening, scum, shade, shading, shadow, sheathing, shield, shielding, show up, shroud, shrouding, slump, slur over, snow-blind, solar eclipse, somber, spread over, strike blind, stuccowork, superimpose, superimposition, superpose, superposition, surpass, top, total eclipse, upholstering, upholstery, vanishing, vanishing point, varnish, veil, veiling, whitewash, wipe, wrapping

ROGET THESAURUS

Eclipse

Superiority

VB be superior, exceed, excel, transcend, outdo, outbalance, outweigh, outrank, outrival, out-Herod, pass, surpass, get ahead of, over-top, override, overpass, overbalance, overweigh, overmatch, top, o'ertop, cap, beat, cut out, beat hollow, outstrip, eclipse, throw into the shade, take the shine out of, outshine, put one's nose out of joint, have the upper hand, have the whip hand of, have the advantage, turn the scale, kick the beam, play first fiddle, preponderate, predominate, prevail, precede, take precedence, come first, come to a head, culminate, beat all others, bear the palm, break the record, take the cake, become larger, render larger.

Repute

VB be conscious of glory, be proud of, exult, be vain of, be distinguished, shine, shine forth, figure, cut a figure, make a dash, make a splash, rival, surpass, outshine, outrival, outvie, outjump, emulate, eclipse, throw into the shade, cast into the shade, overshadow, live, flourish, glitter, flaunt, gain honor, acquire honor, play first fiddle, bear the palm, bear the bell, lead the way, take precedence, take the wall of, gain laurels, win laurels, gain spurs, gain golden opinions, take one's degree, pass one's examination, make a noise, make some noise, make a noise in the world, leave one's mark, exalt one's horn, blow one's horn, star it, have a run, be run after, come into vogue, come to the front, raise one's head, enthrone, signalize, immortalize, deify, exalt to the skies, hand one's name down to posterity, consecrate, dedicate to, devote to, enshrine, inscribe, blazon, lionize, blow the trumpet, crown with laurel, confer honor on, reflect honor on, shed a luster on, redound, to one's honor, ennoble, give honor to, do honor to, pay honor to, render honor to, honor, accredit, pay regard to, dignify, glorify, sing praises to, lock up to, exalt, aggrandize, elevate, nobilitate.

Disrepute

VB be inglorious, incur disgrace, have a bad name, earn a bad name, put a halter round one's neck, wear a halter round one's neck, disgrace oneself, expose oneself, play second fiddle, lose caste, pale one's ineffectual fire, recede into the shade, fall from one's high estate, keep in the background, be conscious of disgrace, look blue, look foolish, look like a fool, cut a poor figure, cut a sorry figure, laugh on the wrong side of the mouth, make a sorry face, go away with a flea in, one's ear, slink away, cause shame, shame, disgrace, put to shame, dishonor, throw dishonor upon, cast dishonor upon, fling dishonor upon, reflect dishonor upon, be a reproach, to, derogate from, tarnish, stain, blot sully, taint, discredit, degrade, debase, defile, beggar, expel, impute shame to, brand, post, stigmatize, vilify, defame, slur, cast a slur upon, hold up to shame, send to Coventry, tread under foot, trample under foot, show up, drag through the mire, heap dirt upon, reprehend, bring low, put down, snub, take down a peg, take down a peg lower, take down a peg or two, obscure, eclipse, outshine, take the shine out of, throw into the shade, cast into the shade, overshadow, leave in the background, put in the background, push into a corner, put one's nose out of joint, put out, put out of countenance, upset, throw off one's center, discompose, disconcert, put to the blush.

Darkness

N darkness, absence of light, blackness, obscurity, gloom, murk, dusk, Cimmerian darkness, Stygian darkness, Egyptian darkness, night, midnight, dead of night, witching hour of night, witching time of night, blind man's holiday, darkness visible, darkness that can be felt, palpable obscure, Erebus, the jaws of darkness, sablevested night, shade, shadow, umbra, penumbra, sciagraphy, obscuration, occultation, adumbration, obumbration, obtenebration, offuscation, caligation, extinction, eclipse, total eclipse, gathering of the clouds, shading, distribution of shade, chiaroscuro, noctivagation, black body, hohlraum, black hole, dark star, dark matter, cold dark matter, dark, darksome, darkling, obscure, tenebrious, sombrous, pitch dark, pitchy, pitch black, caliginous, black, sunless, lightless &c (sun) (light), somber, dusky, unilluminated &c (illuminate), nocturnal, dingy, lurid, gloomy, murky, murksome, shady, umbrageous, overcast, cloudy, darkened, dark as pitch, dark as a pit, dark as Erebus, benighted, noctivagant, noctivagous, in the dark, in the shade, brief as the lightning in the collied night, eldest Night and Chaos, ancestors of Nature, the blackness of the noonday night, the prayer of Ajax was for light.

VB be dark, darken, obscure, shade, dim, tone down, lower, overcast, overshadow, eclipse, obfuscate, offuscate, obumbrate, adumbrate, cast into the shade becloud, bedim, bedarken, cast a shade, throw a shade, spread a shade, cast a shadow, cast a gloom, throw a shadow, spread a shadow, cast gloom, throw gloom, spread gloom, extinguish, put out, blow out, snuff out, doubt, turn out the lights, douse the lights, dim the lights, turn off the lights, switch off the lights.

Dimness

N dimness, darkness, paleness, half light, demi-jour, partial shadow, partial eclipse, shadow of a shade, glimmer, gliming, nebulosity, cloud, eclipse, aurora, dusk, twilight, shades of evening, crepuscule, cockshut time, break of day, daybreak, dawn, moonlight, moonbeam, moonglade, moonshine, starlight, owl's light, candlelight, rushlight, firelight, farthing candle, dim, dull, lackluster, dingy, darkish, shorn of its beams, dark, faint, shadowed forth, glassy, cloudy, misty, blear, muggy, fuliginous, nebulous, nebular, obnubilated, overcast, crepuscular, muddy, lurid, leaden, dun, dirty, looming, pale, confused.

Disappearance

N disappearance, evanescence, eclipse, occultation, departure, exit, vanishing point, dissolving views, disappearing, evanescent, missing, lost, lost to sight, lost to view, gone, Int, vanish!, disappear!, avaunt!, get lost!, get out of here.

Concealment

VB conceal, hide, secrete, put out of sight, lock up, seal up, bottle up, encrypt, encode, cipher, cover, screen, cloak, veil, shroud, cover up one's tracks, screen from sight, screen from observation, drawing the veil, draw the curtain, close the curtain, curtain, shade, eclipse, throw a view over, be cloud, be mask, mask, disguise, ensconce, muffle, smother, befog, whisper, keep from, keep back, keep to oneself, keep snug, keep close, keep secret, keep dark, bury, sink, suppress, keep from, keep from out of view, keep from out of sight, keep in the shade, throw into the shade, throw into background, stifle, hush up, smother, withhold, reserve, fence with a question, ignore, keep a secret, keep one's own counsel, hold one's tongue, make no sign, not let it go further, not breathe a word, not breathe a syllable about, not let the right hand know what the left is doing, hide one's light under a bushel, bury one's talent in a napkin, keep in the dark, leave in the dark, keep in the ignorance, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, hoodwink, mystify, puzzle, bamboozle, be concealed, suffer an eclipse, retire from sight, couch, hide oneself, lie hid, lie in perdu, lie in close, lie in ambush (ambush), seclude oneself, lurk, sneak, skulk, slink, prowl, steal into, steal out of, steal by, steal along, play at bopeep, play at hide and seek, hide in holes and corners, still hunt.