- [countable]
an occasion when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the sun for a time; an occasion when the earth passes between the moon and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the moon for a time 日食;月食 an eclipse of the sun/moon 日食;月食 a total/partial eclipse 全食;偏食
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- lunar
- solar
- partial
- …
- an eclipse of the moon
- an eclipse of the sun
- [singular, uncountable]
a loss of importance, power, etc. especially because somebody/something else has become more important, powerful, etc. (重要性、权势等的)丧失,黯然失色,暗淡
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French e(s)clipse (noun), eclipser (verb), via Latin from Greek ekleipsis, from ekleipein ‘fail to appear, be eclipsed’, from ek ‘out’ + leipein ‘to leave’.