eclipse

Word family

Related topics: Astronomy

e·clipse1 /ɪˈklɪps/ noun

1 [countableC]HA an occasion when the Sun or the Moon cannot be seen, because the Earth is passing directly between the Moon and the Sun, or because the Moon is passing directly between the Earth and the Sun 日食；月食

an eclipse of the Sun

日食

a total eclipse

全食

2 [singular]FAMOUS a situation in which someone or something loses their power or fame, because someone or something else has become more powerful or famous 〔权力或名望的〕黯然失色

Many people expected the growth of television to mean the eclipse of radio.

许多人预计电视业的发展会使广播业黯然失色。

3 in eclipse formalEFFECTIVE less famous or powerful than you should be 被埋没，湮没无闻

Mrs Bosanquet’s novels are now in eclipse.

博赞基特夫人的小说现在已经湮没无闻。

n COLLOCATIONS

adjectives

a solar eclipse (also an eclipse of the Sun) (=one in which the Sun is hidden behind the Moon)

You need to wear protective glasses to view a solar eclipse.

a lunar eclipse (also an eclipse of the Moon) (=one in which the Moon is hidden behind the Sun)

If it's cloudy, it may not be possible to see the lunar eclipse.

a partial eclipse (=one in which the Sun or Moon is not completely hidden)

A partial eclipse of the Sun will occur on August 28th.

a total eclipse (=one in which the Sun or Moon is completely hidden)

The best places to witness the Sun's total eclipse are in southern Africa and South America.

Examples from the Corpus

eclipse• Yet, today, empires east and west are in eclipse.• When the dark edge of the satellite passed across a star, it dimmed briefly before the moment of eclipse.• No solar eclipses will be visible from the United States in 1996, and only two will be visible from Earth.• She felt unenthusiastic and listless about the eclipse and couldn't see why everyone else was making such a fuss.• To see these activities as representing the apotheosis of Morris Zapp and the eclipse of Phillip Swallow is tempting but too simple.• The fragility of the evidence anticipates the eclipse of fact by legend.• Public disillusion has hastened the eclipse.• the eclipse of Europe's prestige after World War I• The eclipse of electricity as a means of propulsion has been one of the more curious facets of the evolution of transport.

total eclipse• Cancer 23 June to 23 July A total eclipse of the Sun doesn't happen all that often.• In that year, there was a total eclipse of the Sun visible from Britain on 3 May.• It was March and interest in the total eclipse of the sun, due on June 21, was beginning to spark.

Related topics: Astronomy

eclipse2 verb [transitiveT]

1. HAif the Moon eclipses the Sun, the Sun cannot be seen behind the Moon, and if the Earth eclipses the Moon, the Moon cannot be seen because the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon 遮住〔太阳、月球〕的光，出现〔日食、月食〕

2 BETTERto become more important, powerful, famous etc than someone or something else, so that they are no longer noticed 使失色，盖过 → overshadow

The economy had eclipsed the environment as an election issue.

经济作为竞选话题已经盖过环境问题。

n He was eclipsed by his more famous sister.

n Grammar

Eclipse is often passive in this meaning.

Examples from the Corpus

eclipse• From nowhere last fall, he has eclipsed all but Sen.• His nearness eclipsed all other sensations.• Finally we come to sight, the most human of senses, the one which normally eclipses all the others.• The old realm of Caledor was eclipsed by other realms including the fast-rising mercantile city-state of Lothern.• Eclipsed by the US champion at last year's Olympic games, Schofield has decided to retire.• Channel 5's tremendous line-up of TV programmes has eclipsed its competitors' best efforts.• It even eclipsed Netscape, the highly touted Internet firm, which had a first-day gain of 108 percent.• That was not the first ethnic bloc seeking to influence foreign policy, but it eclipsed predecessors.• A half hour later the swells had eclipsed the boat and the snow had thickened.• Intense searches have revealed no optical or other signal from the partner, nor does it eclipse the quasar.• Zubero's time of 1:56.57 eclipsed the world record.

Origin eclipse1

(1200-1300) Old French Greek ekleipsis, from ekleipein “to leave out, fail”