meteor

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

meteor, n. [F. météore, Gr. , pl. things in the air, fr. high in air, raised off the ground; beyond + , , a suspension or hovering in the air, fr. to lift, raise up.].

•  Any phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds, rain, hail, snow, etc.  [1913 Webster]

  "Hail, an ordinary meteor."  [1913 Webster]
•  Specif.: A transient luminous body or appearance seen in the atmosphere, or in a more elevated region.  [1913 Webster]

  "The vaulty top of heaven
  Figured quite o'er with burning meteors."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [PJC]

  " The term is especially applied to fireballs, and the masses of stone or other substances which sometimes fall to the earth; also to shooting stars and to ignes fatui. Meteors are often classed as: aerial meteors, winds, tornadoes, etc.; aqueous meteors, rain, hail, snow, dew, etc.; luminous meteors, rainbows, halos, etc.; and igneous meteors, lightning, shooting stars, and the like."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

meteor, n.
1 a small body of matter from outer space that becomes incandescent as a result of friction with the earth's atmosphere.
2 a streak of light emanating from a meteor.

Idiom

meteor shower a group of meteors appearing to come from one point in the sky.

Etymology

ME f. mod.L meteorum f. Gk meteoron neut. of meteoros lofty, (as META-, aeiro raise)

THESAURUS

meteor

aerolite, asteroids, aurora particles, blackout, bolide, chondrite, cosmic dust, cosmic particles, cosmic ray bombardment, fireball, intergalactic matter, meteor crater, meteor dust, meteor dust impacts, meteor shower, meteor swarm, meteor trail, meteor train, meteoric shower, meteorite, meteoroid, meteorolite, meteors, micrometeorite, micrometeoroid, radiant, radiant point, radiation, shooting star, siderite, siderolite, space bullets, tektite, the bends, weightlessness

ROGET THESAURUS

meteor

World

N world, creation, nature, universe, earth, globe, wide world, cosmos, kosmos, terraqueous globe, sphere, macrocosm, megacosm, music of the spheres, heavens, sky, welkin, empyrean, starry cope, starry heaven, starry host, firmament, Midgard, supersensible regions, varuna, vault of heaven, canopy of heaven, celestial spaces, heavenly bodies, stars, asteroids, nebulae, galaxy, milky way, galactic circle, via lactea, ame no kawa, sun, orb of day, Apollo, Phoebus, photosphere, chromosphere, solar system, planet, planetoid, comet, satellite, moon, orb of night, Diana, silver-footed queen, aerolite, meteor, planetary ring, falling star, shooting star, meteorite, uranolite, constellation, zodiac, signs of the zodiac, Charles's wain, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Great Bear, Southern Cross, Orion's belt, Cassiopea's chair, Pleiades, colures, equator, ecliptic, orbit, astronomy, uranography, uranology, cosmology, cosmography, cosmogony, eidouranion, orrery, geodesy, star gazing, star gazer, astronomer, observatory, planetarium, cosmic, cosmical, mundane, terrestrial, terrestrious, terraqueous, terrene, terreous, telluric, earthly, geotic, under the sun, sublunary, subastral, solar, heliacal, lunar, celestial, heavenly, sphery, starry, stellar, sidereal, sideral, astral, nebular, uranic, in all creation, on the face of the globe, here below, under the sun, die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltergesicht, earth is but the frozen echo of the silent voice o, green calm below, blue quietness above, hanging in a golden chain this pendant World, nothing in nature is unbeautiful, silently as a dream the fabric rose, some touch of nature's genial glow, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, through knowledge we behold the World's creation.

Luminary

N luminary, light, flame, spark, scintilla, phosphorescence, fluorescence, sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo, Aurora, star, orb, meteor, falling star, shooting star, blazing star, dog star, Sirius, canicula, Aldebaran, constellation, galaxy, zodiacal light, anthelion, day star, morning star, Lucifer, mock sun, parhelion, phosphor, phosphorus, sun dog, Venus, aurora, polar lights, northern lights, aurora borealis, southern lights, aurora australis, lightning, chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning, ball lightning, kugelblitz, phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, scintillator, phosphor, firefly luminescence, ignis fatuus, Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern, will-o'-the- wisp, firedrake, Fata Morgana, Saint Elmo's fire, glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug, anglerfish, gas, gas light, lime light, lantern, lanthorn, dark lantern, bull's-eye, candle, bougie, taper, rushlight, oil, wick, burner, Argand, moderator, duplex, torch, flambeau, link, brand, gaselier, chandelier, electrolier, candelabrum, candelabra, girandole, sconce, luster, candlestick, lamp, light, incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb, flashlight, torch, arc light, laser, maser neon bulb, neon sign, fluorescent lamp, filament, socket, contacts, filler gas, firework, fizgig, pyrotechnics, rocket, lighthouse, self-luminous, glowing, phosphoric, phosphorescent, fluorescent, incandescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent, radiant, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels, the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, the planets in their station list'ning stood, the Scriptures of the skies, that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from night.