Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bright streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere.
- noun A meteoroid or meteorite.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Any atmospheric phenomenon.
- noun Specifically A transient fiery or luminous body seen in or through the atmosphere, usually in its more elevated region: a shooting-star. If it reaches the surface of the earth, it is called a meteorite, formerly
aërolite , and also (very rarely) uranolite. - noun A small body moving in space, and of the same nature as those which become visible by encountering our atmosphere.
- noun An abbreviation of meteorology, meteorological.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Any phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds, rain, hail, snow, etc.
- noun Specif.: A transient luminous body or appearance seen in the atmosphere, or in a more elevated region.
- noun A mass of stone or other substance which sometimes falls to the earth from space beyond the moon, burning up from atomospheric friction and creating a brilliant but usually very brief trail of light in the atmosphere; also called a
shooting star .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of
extraterrestrial matter into the earth'satmosphere : Ashooting star orfalling star . - noun juggling A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.
- noun martial arts A striking weapon resembling a
track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of acable orchain .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun (astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere
- noun 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
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term meteor shower is somewhat misleading, because the streaks of light are generally caused by space debris no bigger than grains of sand, which hit and then burn up in the
Ottawa Sun 2010
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The term meteor for what is usually called a shooting star bears an unfortunate resemblance to the term meteorology, the science of weather and weather forecasting.
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In Meteor, a giant meteor is hurtling toward the earth threatening to destroy it (been there, done that).
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In Meteor, a giant meteor is hurtling toward the earth threatening to destroy it (been there, done that).
13 « March « 2009 « Axiom's Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy 2009
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Not only that, but an antimatter meteor from the Lucifer system struck Earth, wiped out the dinosaurs, allowed mammals to find their niche, and produced humans -- in other words, Lucifer brought about original sin.
Archive 2007-02-01 2007
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Not only that, but an antimatter meteor from the Lucifer system struck Earth, wiped out the dinosaurs, allowed mammals to find their niche, and produced humans -- in other words, Lucifer brought about original sin.
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Every 33 years, the Leonids put on a truly spectacular display of more than a thousand meteors per hour in what is known as a meteor storm.
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Our joys were dearer because we saw their end; they were keener because we felt, to its fullest extent, their value; they were purer because their essence was sympathy -- as a meteor is brighter than a star, did the felicity of this winter contain in itself the extracted delights of a long, long life.
II.8 1826
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Finally, sit back and enjoy the show as bits of leftover comet burn up in our atmosphere, creating the celestial displays that we call meteor showers.
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Whether Godzilla’s attacking, a meteor is about to hit Metropolis or every car in town has mysteriously turned bright pink, a journalist will have something to do.
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Common Superhero Day Jobs, Part 1 2009
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