- Classical Mythology. a giant hunter who pursued the Pleiades, was eventually slain by Artemis, and was then placed in the sky as a constellation.
- Astronomy. the Hunter, a constellation lying on the celestial equator between Canis Major and Taurus, containing the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.
- Military. a land-based U.S. Navy patrol plane with four turboprop engines, used to detect, track, and destroy enemy submarines and armed with missiles, torpedoes, mines, and depth bombs.
Examples from the Web for orion
Contemporary Examples of orion
Orion represents the first step towards human exploration of other planets, like Mars.NASA Launches Orion in Fiery Spectacle
Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video
December 5, 2014
Orion will orbit Earth twice before splashing down off the California coast.To Infinity and Beyond! NASA’s Orion Mission Blasts Off
Matthew R. Francis
December 4, 2014
Along with Lewis, Orion is one of the few minority escorts to be seen.And The Escort of The Year Is… Backstage at The Sex Oscars
March 24, 2014
Orion had asked him to write and produce a comedy about a country club.Doug Kenney: The Odd Comic Genius Behind ‘Animal House’ and National Lampoon
Robert Sam Anson
March 1, 2014
"My God, My Glock, and my Gallant" Above hardpan deserts, red dawns chased away Orion, the Hunter, day after night.Iraq War 10th Anniversary: The Iraqi Highway Patrolman
John Kael Weston
March 20, 2013
Historical Examples of orion
You can find the place where they alighted in the sky, just ahead of Orion.Classic Myths
Mary Catherine Judd
Printing was a step downward, for it was a trade, and Orion felt it keenly.
Orion could pay nothing on his mortgage—barely the interest.
Furthermore, Orion had met with certain acute troubles of his own.
The governor found Orion Clemens an impediment to this policy.
- Greek myth a Boeotian giant famed as a great hunter, who figures in several tales
- a conspicuous constellation near Canis Major containing two first magnitude stars (Betelgeuse and Rigel) and a distant bright emission nebula (the Orion Nebula) associated with a system of giant molecular clouds and star formation
Word Origin and History for orion
bright constellation, late 14c., from Greek Oarion, name of a giant in Greek mythology, loved by Aurora, slain by Artemis, of unknown origin, though some speculate on Akkadian Uru-anna "the Light of Heaven." Another Greek name for the constellation was Kandaon, a title of Ares, god of war, and the star pattern is represented in many cultures as a giant (e.g. Old Irish Caomai "the Armed King," Old Norse Orwandil, Old Saxon Ebuðrung).
- A constellation in the equatorial region of the celestial sphere, near Taurus and Gemini. Orion (the Hunter) contains the bright stars Betelgeuse and Rigel.