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What does 'dimmed the stars for a great arc' mean.

The moon was halfway up and dimmed the stars for a great arc.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

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  • @JasonBassford it's just a typo. I've fixed it.
    – Andrew
    Apr 17, 2019 at 19:39

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It's saying that the moon was so bright the stars appeared dimmer along a whole arc of the sky. An arc is an portion of the circumference of a circle, which would of course be just a line, so I imagine it's referring more to a sector of the sky really.

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  • Why does 'for' apply here? With 'along' I would understand this.
    – Vitaly
    Apr 17, 2019 at 20:17
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    "Along" would mean the same thing in this context. But it's common to say, for example, "There were trees for miles and miles" or "The sidewalk runs for 3 blocks", etc.
    – Jay
    Jul 24, 2019 at 21:13

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