fireball
Americannoun
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fireballs
plural
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a ball of fire, as the sun; a shooting star.
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a luminous meteor, sometimes exploding.
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lightning having the appearance of a globe of fire; ball lightning.
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the highly luminous central portion of a nuclear explosion.
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a ball filled with explosive or combustible material, used as a projectile to injure the enemy by explosion or to set fire to their works.
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Informal. an exceptionally energetic or ambitious person.
noun
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a ball-shaped discharge of lightning
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the bright spherical region of hot ionized gas at the centre of a nuclear explosion
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astronomy another name for bolide
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slang an energetic person
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fireball
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The strongest transverse acceleration consistently points outward and appears near the outer boundary of the fireball.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
By daylight, a massive fireball was filmed erupting near a cluster of high-rise residential buildings, sending a mushroom-shaped column of smoke rising above the city skyline.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Footage from the scene shows a fireball at the refinery, with thick smoke billowing out across the city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
When it does, the agency expects to lose communication for about six minutes as the Orion capsule holding the astronauts is enveloped in a fireball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
A blue fireball shoots out of his candle, and he still doesn’t look away.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
A ban on "hulla parties" -- groups deployed to drive elephants away using "fireballs" and burning stakes -- is required, it said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
Distinctive features of the Lyrids are their colours and brightness - along with exceptionally bright fireballs from time to time, outshining the planet Venus.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Video images of the fireballs circled the globe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Frantic, he helped his parents hoist his six younger siblings over a backyard fence as fireballs of ignited crude descended around their home, just across the street.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
How long I scramble along dodging the fireballs I can't say, but the attacks finally begin to abate.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
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