Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Multiple \Mul"ti*ple\, a. [Cf. F. multiple, and E. quadruple,
and multiply.]
Containing more than once, or more than one; consisting of
more than one; manifold; repeated many times; having several,
or many, parts.
{Law of multiple proportion} (Chem.), the generalization that
when the same elements unite in more than one proportion,
forming two or more different compounds, the higher
proportions of the elements in such compounds are simple
multiplies of the lowest proportion, or the proportions
are connected by some simple common factor; thus, iron and
oxygen unite in the proportions {FeO}, {Fe2O3}, {Fe3O4},
in which compounds, considering the oxygen, 3 and 4 are
simple multiplies of 1. Called also the {Law of Dalton},
from its discoverer.
{Multiple algebra}, a branch of advanced mathematics that
treats of operations upon units compounded of two or more
unlike units.
{Multiple conjugation} (Biol.), a coalescence of many cells
(as where an indefinite number of am[oe]boid cells flow
together into a single mass) from which conjugation proper
and even fertilization may have been evolved.
{Multiple fruits}. (Bot.) See {Collective fruit}, under
{Collective}.
{Multiple star} (Astron.), several stars in close proximity,
which appear to form a single system.
{Blazing star}, {Double star}, {Multiple star}, {Shooting
star}, etc. See under {Blazing}, {Double}, etc.
{Nebulous star} (Astron.), a small well-defined circular
nebula, having a bright nucleus at its center like a star.
{Star anise} (Bot.), any plant of the genus Illicium; -- so
called from its star-shaped capsules.
{Star apple} (Bot.), a tropical American tree ({Chrysophyllum
Cainito}), having a milky juice and oblong leaves with a
silky-golden pubescence beneath. It bears an applelike
fruit, the carpels of which present a starlike figure when
cut across. The name is extended to the whole genus of
about sixty species, and the natural order
({Sapotace[ae]}) to which it belongs is called the
Star-apple family.
{Star conner}, one who cons, or studies, the stars; an
astronomer or an astrologer. --Gascoigne.
{Star coral} (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of stony
corals belonging to {Astr[ae]a}, {Orbicella}, and allied
genera, in which the calicles are round or polygonal and
contain conspicuous radiating septa.
{Star cucumber}. (Bot.) See under {Cucumber}.
{Star flower}. (Bot.)
(a) A plant of the genus {Ornithogalum};
star-of-Bethlehem.
(b) See {Starwort}
(b) .
(c) An American plant of the genus {Trientalis}
({Trientalis Americana}). --Gray.
{Star fort} (Fort.), a fort surrounded on the exterior with
projecting angles; -- whence the name.
{Star gauge} (Ordnance), a long rod, with adjustable points
projecting radially at its end, for measuring the size of
different parts of the bore of a gun.
{Star grass}. (Bot.)
(a) A small grasslike plant ({Hypoxis erecta}) having
star-shaped yellow flowers.
(b) The colicroot. See {Colicroot}.
{Star hyacinth} (Bot.), a bulbous plant of the genus {Scilla}
({S. autumnalis}); -- called also {star-headed hyacinth}.
{Star jelly} (Bot.), any one of several gelatinous plants
({Nostoc commune}, {N. edule}, etc.). See {Nostoc}.
{Star lizard}. (Zo["o]l.) Same as {Stellion}.
{Star-of-Bethlehem} (Bot.), a bulbous liliaceous plant
({Ornithogalum umbellatum}) having a small white starlike
flower.
{Star-of-the-earth} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Plantago}
({P. coronopus}), growing upon the seashore.
{Star polygon} (Geom.), a polygon whose sides cut each other
so as to form a star-shaped figure.
{Stars and Stripes}, a popular name for the flag of the
United States, which consists of thirteen horizontal
stripes, alternately red and white, and a union having, in
a blue field, white stars to represent the several States,
one for each.
With the old flag, the true American flag, the
Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the
chamber in which we sit. --D. Webster.
{Star showers}. See {Shooting star}, under {Shooting}.
{Star thistle} (Bot.), an annual composite plant ({Centaurea
solstitialis}) having the involucre armed with radiating
spines.
{Star wheel} (Mach.), a star-shaped disk, used as a kind of
ratchet wheel, in repeating watches and the feed motions
of some machines.
{Star worm} (Zo["o]l.), a gephyrean.
{Temporary star} (Astron.), a star which appears suddenly,
shines for a period, and then nearly or quite disappears.
These stars are supposed by some astronometers to be
variable stars of long and undetermined periods.
{Variable star} (Astron.), a star whose brilliancy varies
periodically, generally with regularity, but sometimes
irregularly; -- called {periodical star} when its changes
occur at fixed periods.
{Water star grass} (Bot.), an aquatic plant ({Schollera
graminea}) with small yellow starlike blossoms.
Source : WordNet®
multiple star
n : a system of three or more stars associated by gravity