ball lightning

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noun

a rare form of lightning, consisting of a bright, luminous ball that moves rapidly along objects or floats in the air.

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Also called globe lightning.

Origin of ball lightning

First recorded in 1855–60

Words nearby ball lightning

ballistocardiogram, ballistocardiograph, ballistospore, ballium, ball joint, ball lightning, ball mill, ballocks, ball of fire, ball of wax, ballon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ball lightning in a sentence

Should lightning strike and Hillary Clinton forgoes a presidential run, Democrats have a nominee in waiting.
Sen. Warren’s Main Street Crusade to Pressure Clinton|Eleanor Clift|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
One of the kids had a ball in his hand, and Cuomo took it and tossed it back and forth to an eight year old.
Mario Cuomo, Always Moving Us Toward the Light|Mike Barnicle|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Instead of going for the hole, I hit the ball directly into the water.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There is only sand, a white ball, and a flag indicating the hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST

If the ball gets in the hole, the screen shifts to reveal the next hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art|Alec Kubas-Meyer|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The left heel followed like lightning, and the right paw also slipped, letting the bear again fall heavily on the ice below.
The Giant of the North|R.M. Ballantyne
It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
A view of the duchess's ball-room, or of the dining-table of the earl, will supersede all occasion for lengthy fiddle-faddle.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Spite, however, of punishments and prohibitions the use of tobacco spread with the rapidity of lightning.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
He had not the least idea what wadding was, and his notion of a bullet was a dockyard cannon-ball bigger than his own head.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling

British Dictionary definitions for ball lightning

ball lightning

noun

meteorol a luminous electrically charged ball occasionally seen during electrical storms

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for ball lightning

ball lightning

A rare form of lightning in the shape of a glowing red ball, associated with thunderstorms and sometimes accompanied by a loud noise. Ball lightning is thought to consist of ionized gas.