1. the partial or complete obscuring, relative to a designated observer, of one celestial body by another.
2. the period of time during which such an obscuration occurs.
3. A temporary or permanent dimming or cutting off of light.
4. A fall into obscurity or disuse; a decline: "A composer . . . often goes into eclipse after his death and never regains popularity” ( time).
5. A disgraceful or humiliating end; a downfall: revelations of wrongdoing helped bring about the eclipse of the governor's career.
6. to cause an eclipse of.
7. to obscure; darken.
8. to obscure or diminish in importance, fame, or reputation.
9. to surpass; outshine: an outstanding performance that eclipsed the previous record.

1. an astronomical alignment in which a planetary object (for example, the moon) comes between the sun and another planetary object (for example, the earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle object onto the other object.
2. A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
3. obscurity, decline, downfall
4. of astronomical bodies, to cause an eclipse.
5. to overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
6. to undergo eclipsis

1. an interception or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or other luminous body, by the intervention of some other body, either between it and the eye, or between the luminous body and that illuminated by it. A lunar eclipse is caused by the moon passing through the earth's shadow; a solar eclipse, by the moon coming between the sun and the observer. A satellite is eclipsed by entering the shadow of its primary. the obscuration of a planet or star by the moon or a planet, though of the nature of an eclipse, is called an occultation. the eclipse of a small portion of the sun by mercury or venus is called a transit of the planet.
2. the loss, usually temporary or partial, of light, brilliancy, luster, honor, consciousness, etc.; obscuration; gloom; darkness.
3. to suffer an eclipse.
4. to cause the obscuration of; to darken or hide; -- said of a heavenly body.
5. to obscure, darken, or extinguish the beauty, luster, honor, etc., of; to sully; to cloud; to throw into the shade by surpassing.

1. to obscure by an eclipse; cause the obscuration of; darken or hide, as a heavenly body: as, the moon eclipses the sun.
2. to overshadow; throw in the shade; obscure; hence, to surpass or excel.
3. to suffer an eclipse.
4. in astronomy, an interception or obscuration of the light of the sun, moon, or other heavenly body, by the intervention of another heavenly body either between it and the eye or between it and the source of its illumination.
5. figuratively, any state of obscuration; an overshadowing; a transition from brightness, clearness, or animation to the opposite state: as, his glory has suffered an eclipse.

1. cause an eclipse of (a celestial body) by intervention
2. be greater in significance than
3. one celestial body obscures another