aurora borealis Hear it!

aurora borealis definition

aurora bo·real·is (bôr′ē al′is, -ē ā′lis)

irregular, luminous phenomena, as streamers, visible at night in a zone surrounding the north magnetic pole and produced in the ionosphere when atomic particles strike and excite atoms; northern lights

Etymology: L, lit., northern aurora: see Aurora & Boreas

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.