meteor — English Dictionary

Noun

1. An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars).

   Examples

   Europe, where the Sun dares ſcarce appeare, For freezing Meteors and congealed cold: […]

   The twilight, the meteors call'd fire-balls, or flying dragons, and the northern lights, inhabit the higher regions of the atmosphere.

   More examples (1)

   A meteor in the hazy air / Play’d before his path; / Before him now it roll’d / A globe of livid fire […] Anon to Thalaba it mov’d, / And wrapt him in its pale innocuous fire.

2. A fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere; a shooting star or falling star.

3. A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.

4. A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.

5. Any short-lived source of wonderment.

   Usage

   • Figurative

Verb

1. To move at great speed.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

Noun

1. (astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere

   Synonyms

   meteoroid

   Broader terms

   extraterrestrial objectestraterrestrial bodyextraterrestrial body

2. a streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes the meteoroid to melt or vaporize or explode

   Synonyms

   shooting star

   Broader terms

   lightvisible lightvisible radiation