the region of space beyond Earth’s atmosphere or beyond the solar system; in extended use: a place or region beyond the usual limits of awareness or accessibility
All Earth in madness moved,—o'erthrown,[/]To outer space—driven—racked—undone!
Geologists tell us, and astronomers endorse what they say, that it has, at some period of its existence, been run into by a comet; and how do we know that even now, away off millions upon millions of miles distant, some wandering meteor in outer space is not on its way to knock this our planet into a universal smash?
Olbers, the great astronomer of Bremen, praises him for his circumstantial description and collection of the particulars of the shower, and arrives at the same conclusion which Prof. Olmstead had adopted from the constant direction of the shower, that it did not participate in the rotation of the earth, but came from outer space into our atmosphere.
After all, to go into outer space is not so much worse, if at all, than a polar expedition.
antedating 1842
E. S. Wortley 'Maiden of Moscow'
OED entry was revised in December 2004, with an earliest date of 1842.
Last modified 2021-10-28 18:58:08
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