nubbly, lift-off, astrophysicist, faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy

In Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico, green is never simply green. From the air, green rolls over the unending mountains, intense and damp where there are forests and nubbly like rough felt when the trees end.


Planet hunting spacecraft Kepler poised for lift-off 

NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler, has taken off from Florida's Cape Canaveral. The spacecraft is named after the 17th century German astrophysicist Johannes Kepler. The Kepler telescope, once it's in orbit around the sun, will try to find other Earth-like planets in a faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy. The cost of the space mission is $600 million dollars. The first results are expected to be made available in three months time.




lift-off Show phonetics
noun [C or U]
when a spacecraft or rocket leaves the ground:
We have lift-off.


faraway Show phonetics
adjective [before noun]
1 LITERARY distant:
They travelled to faraway lands/places.

2 describes a person's expression which shows that they are not thinking about what is happening around them:
There was a faraway look in his eyes.

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patch (AREA) Show phonetics
noun [C]
1 a small area which is different in some way from the area that surrounds it:
Our dog has a black patch on his back.
The hotel walls were covered in damp patches.
There were lots of icy patches on the road this morning.
This story is good in patches (= some parts are good), but I wouldn't really recommend it.

2 INFORMAL a local area within which someone works:
He's been working as a policeman on the same patch for twenty years.

patchy Show phonetics
adjective
1 only existing or happening in some parts:
The varnish is a bit patchy on this table.
Southeast England will start with some patchy rain/patchy cloud at first.

2 sometimes good and sometimes bad:
Matthew found the service offered by estate agents extremely patchy.

patchily Show phonetics
adverb

patchiness Show phonetics
noun [U]


nubbly Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The adjective has one meaning:
Meaning #1: of textiles; having a rough surface
Synonyms: homespun, nubby, slubbed, tweedy