thank one's lucky stars

noun

1. any of the heavenly bodies, except the moon, appearing as fixed luminous points in the sky at night.
2. Astronomy. any of the large, self-luminous, heavenly bodies, as the sun, Polaris, etc.
3. any heavenly body.
4. Astrology. a heavenly body, especially a planet, considered as influencing humankind and events.
5. a person’s destiny, fortune, temperament, etc., regarded as influenced and determined by the stars.
6. a conventionalized figure usually having five or six points radiating from or disposed about a center.
7. this figure used as an ornament, award, badge, mark of excellence, etc.: The movie was awarded three stars.
8. Jewelry.
   1. a gem having the star cut.
   2. the asterism in a crystal or a gemstone, as in a star sapphire.
   3. a crystal or a gemstone having such asterism.
   4. star facet.
9. Printing. an asterisk.
10. a person who is celebrated or distinguished in some art, profession, or other field.
11. a prominent actor, singer, or the like, especially one who plays the leading role in a performance.
12. U.S. Military. battle star.
13. U.S. Navy.
    1. a gold or bronze star worn on the ribbon of a decoration or medal to represent a second or subsequent award of the same decoration or medal.
    2. a silver star worn in place of five gold or bronze stars.
14. a white spot on the forehead of a horse.
15. Heraldry. a mullet.

adjective

16. celebrated, prominent, or distinguished; preeminent: a star basketball player; a star reporter.
17. of or relating to a star or stars.

verb (used with object), starred, star·ring.

18. to set with or as with stars; spangle.
19. to feature as a star: an old movie starring Rudolph Valentino.
20. to mark with a star or asterisk, as for special notice.

verb (used without object), starred, star·ring.

21. to shine as a star; be brilliant or prominent.
22. (of a performer) to appear as a star: He starred in several productions of Shaw’s plays.

Idioms

23. make someone see stars, to deal someone a severe blow causing the illusion of brilliant streaks of light before the eyes: The blow on the head made him see stars, and the next thing he knew he was in the hospital.
24. thank one’s lucky stars, to acknowledge one’s good fortune; be grateful: Instead of complaining about hospital bills she should thank her lucky stars she’s still alive.Also thank one’s stars.

noun

1. any of a vast number of celestial objects that are visible in the clear night sky as points of light
2. 1. a hot gaseous mass, such as the sun, that radiates energy, esp as light and infrared radiation, usually derived from thermonuclear reactions in the interior, and in some cases as ultraviolet, radio waves, and X-rays. The surface temperature can range from about 2100 to 40 000°CSee also Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, giant star, white dwarf, neutron star, black hole
   2. (as modifier)a star catalogue Related adjectives: astral, sidereal, stellar
3. astrology
   1. a celestial body, esp a planet, supposed to influence events, personalities, etc
   2. (plural) another name for horoscope (def. 1)
4. an emblem shaped like a conventionalized star, usually with five or more points, often used as a symbol of rank, an award, etc
5. a small white blaze on the forehead of an animal, esp a horse
6. Also called: star facet any of the eight triangular facets cut in the crown of a brilliant
7. 1. a distinguished or glamorous celebrity, often from the entertainment world
   2. (as modifier)star quality
8. another word for asterisk
9. (often capital) a type of keelboat, designed to be crewed by two people
10. prison slang a convict serving his first prison sentence
11. see stars to see or seem to see bright moving pinpoints of light, as from a blow on the head, increased blood pressure, etc

verb stars, starring or starred

12. (tr) to mark or decorate with a star or stars
13. to feature or be featured as a star“Greed” starred Erich von Stroheim; Olivier starred in “Hamlet”

n.Old English steorra, from Proto-Germanic *sterron, *sternon (cf. Old Saxon sterro, Old Norse stjarna, Old Frisian stera, Dutch ster, Old High German sterro, German Stern, Gothic stairno), from PIE *ster- (cf. Sanskrit star-, Hittite shittar, Greek aster, astron, Latin stella, Breton sterenn, Welsh seren “star”). Astrological sense of “influence of planets and zodiac on human affairs” is recorded from mid-13c.; star-crossed is from “Romeo and Juliet” (1592). Stars as a ranking of quality for hotels, restaurants, etc. are attested from 1886, originally in Baedecker guides. Brass star as a police badge is recorded from 1859 (New York City). v.1824, “perform the lead part” (said of actors, singers, etc.), from star (n.). Sporting sense is from 1916. Related: Starred; starring.

1. A large, spherical celestial body consisting of a mass of gas that is hot enough to sustain nuclear fusion and thus produce radiant energy. Stars begin their life cycle as clouds of gas and dust called nebulae and develop, through gravitation and accretion, into increasingly hot and dense protostars. In order to reach the temperature at which nuclear reactions are ignited (about 5 million degrees K), a protostar must have at least 80 times the mass of Jupiter. For most of its life a star fuses hydrogen into helium in its core, during which period it is known as a dwarf star and is classed according to its surface temperature and luminosity (or spectral type) on a continuum called the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. When a star exhausts the hydrogen in its core, it typically develops into one of several non-main-sequence forms depending on how massive it is. Smaller stars, with masses less than eight times that of the Sun, become red giants and end their lives, after blowing away their outer layers, as white dwarfs. More massive stars become supergiants and end their lives, after exploding in a supernova, as either a neutron star or ablack hole.
2. Any of the celestial bodies visible to the naked eye at night as fixed, usually twinkling points of light, including binary and multiple star systems.

An object in the sky that sends out its own light, generated by nuclear reactions in its center. There are many billions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Be grateful for good fortune, as in I thank my lucky stars that I wasn’t on that plane that crashed. This phrase, which reflects the ancient belief in the influence of stars over human destinies, appeared in slightly different form in Ben Jonson’s play Every Man Out of His Humour (1599): “I thank my Stars for it.” The exact locution dates from the 1800s and is more a general expression of relief than of belief in the stars’ protection. Also see thank god. In addition to the idiom beginning with star

stare down

stare in the face

stars in one’s eyes, have

also see:

born under a lucky star

see stars

thank one’s lucky stars