Nep"tune (?), n. [L. Neptunus.]
1. (Rom. Myth.) The son of Saturn and
Ops, the god of the waters, especially of the sea. He is represented
as bearing a trident for a scepter.
2. (Astron.) The remotest known planet
of our system, discovered -- as a result of the computations of
Leverrier, of Paris -- by Galle, of Berlin, September 23, 1846. Its
mean distance from the sun is about 2,775,000,000 miles, and its
period of revolution is about 164,78 years.
Neptune powder, an explosive containing
nitroglycerin, -- used in blasting. -- Neptune's
cup (Zoöl.), a very large, cup-shaped,
marine sponge (Thalassema Neptuni).