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โ‡ฑ REDSHIFT Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster


: a displacement of the spectrum of a celestial body toward longer wavelengths that is a consequence of the Doppler effect or the gravitational field of the source
also : a measurement of a celestial body's redshift equal to the ratio of the displacement of a spectral line to its known unshifted wavelength and used especially to calculate the body's distance from earth

Examples of redshift in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The sum of all of them adds to the net gravitational redshift/blueshift for all waves, including gravitational waves. โ€”๐Ÿ‘ Image
Big Think, 3 Apr. 2026
The higher the redshift, the farther the object is. โ€”๐Ÿ‘ Image
Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 28 Jan. 2026
These criteria are mostly concerned with avoiding the formation of molecular hydrogen, which can efficiently cool the gas at high redshift, favoring the formation of smaller stars. โ€”๐Ÿ‘ Image
Robert Lea, Space.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Combining these ages with the galaxies' redshifts reveals how much the universe has expanded while the light was traveling to us, offering another way to trace the cosmic expansion history. โ€”๐Ÿ‘ Image
Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for redshift

Word History

First Known Use

1923, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of redshift was in 1923

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Cite this Entry

โ€œRedshift.โ€ Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redshift. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

: displacement of a spectrum especially of a heavenly body toward longer wavelengths

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