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stratospheric

 - 4 dictionary results

strat⋅o⋅sphere

  [strat-uh-sfeer]
Use stratospheric in a Sentence
–noun
1. the region of the upper atmosphere extending upward from the tropopause to about 30 miles (50 km) above the earth, characterized by little vertical change in temperature.
2. (formerly) all of the earth's atmosphere lying outside the troposphere.
3. any great height or degree, as the highest point of a graded scale.
Origin:
1905–10; strat(um) + -o- + sphere

Related forms:
strat⋅o⋅spher⋅ic  [strat-uh-sfer-ik, -sfeer-] , strat⋅o⋅spher⋅i⋅cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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strat·o·spher·ic   (strāt'ə-sfîr'ĭk, -sfěr'-)   
adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the stratosphere.

  2. Extremely or unreasonably high: "money borrowed at today's stratospheric rates of interest" (New York Times).

strat'o·spher'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Dictionary

stratosphere [(strat-uh-sfeer)]

The region of the atmosphere of the Earth above the troposphere. The stratosphere begins at an altitude of seven to ten miles and extends to approximately thirty miles.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

stratosphere 
1909, from Fr. stratosphère, lit. "sphere of layers," coined by Fr. meteorologist Léon-Philippe Teisserenc de Bort (1855-1913) from L. stratus "a spreading out" (from pp. stem of sternere "to spread out;" see structure) + Fr. -sphère, as in atmosphère. The region where the temperature increases or remains steady as you go higher. [An earlier stratosphere, attested in Eng. 1908 and coined in Ger. 1901, was a geological term for part of the Earth's crust. It is now obsolete.]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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