Skip to content
Vinony

gas giant

noun

  1. a giant plant main made up of light elements
L1531708 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

noun

Etymology: From gas + giant, coined by American science-fiction writer James Blish and first attested in 1952 in a rewritten version of his 1941 short story Solar Plexus.

  1. A large planet composed mostly of gaseous hydrogen and helium, along with methane and ammonia; possibly with a solid core.

    “A quick glance over the boards revealed that there was a magnetic field of some strength near by, one that didn't belong to the invisible gas giant revolving half a million miles away.”

    “Altanorch is a small but typical hydrogen-helium gas giant with no outstanding features. Its combination of strong magnetic field and relatively shallow gravity well make it a popular "stopover" world for discharging FTL drive cores.”