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Webster 1913 Edition


Combust

Com-bust′

,
Adj.
[L.
combustus
, p. p. of
comburere
to burn up;
com-
+
burere
(only in comp.), of uncertain origin; cf.
bustum
funeral pyre,
prurire
to itch,
pruna
a live coal, Gr.
πυρσόσ
firebrand, Skr.
plush
to burn.]
1.
Burnt; consumed.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
(Astron.)
So near the sun as to be obscured or eclipsed by his light, as the moon or planets when not more than eight degrees and a half from the sun.
[Obs.]
Planets that are oft
combust
.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Combust

COMBUST

,
Adj.
When a planet is in conjunction with the sun or apparently very near it, it is said to be combust or in combustion. The distance within which this epithet is applicable to a planet, is said by some writers to be 8 degrees; others say, within the distance of half the suns disk.

Definition 2024


combust

combust

English

Verb

combust (third-person singular simple present combusts, present participle combusting, simple past and past participle combusted)

  1. To burn; to catch fire.
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) To erupt with enthusiasm or boisterousness.
    • 2012, Oliver Burkeman, The Antidote, Happiness for People who Can't Stand Positive Thinking, ISBN 978-1-4713-1638-8:
      The audience combusts.

Translations

Derived terms

Hyponyms

Adjective

combust (comparative more combust, superlative most combust)

  1. (obsolete) Burnt.
  2. (astrology) In close conjunction with the sun (so that its astrological influence is "burnt up"), sometimes specified to be within 8 degrees 30'.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, I.iii.1.3:
      Guianerius had a patient could make Latin verses when the moon was combust, otherwise illiterate.
    • 1644, John Milton, Aeropagitica:
      Who can discern those planets that are oft Combust, and those stars of brightest magnitude that rise and set with the Sun, untill the opposite motion of their orbs bring them to such a place in the firmament, where they may be seen evning or morning.