asterisk

Other spellings

• asterisc

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /ˈæstərɪsk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: as‧ter‧isk

Noun

Singular asterisk

Plural asterisks

An asterisk

1. (countable) An asterisk is the sign * used for several purposes including to mark footnotes and other notes, to indicate multiplication (e.g., 3*3), and (on the Internet) to signify that something should be in bold (e.g., *IMPORTANT*).
   • Synonyms: star and bullet

   Linguists put asterisks before reconstructed words.

Verb

Plain form asterisk

Third-person singular asterisks

Past tense asterisked

Past participle asterisked

Present participle asterisking

1. (transitive) If you asterisk something, you mark it with an asterisk (*).
   • Synonym: star

   I asterisked that sentence because I wanted to leave a footnote at the bottom.