bolide

[ boh-lahyd, -lid ]

/ ˈboʊ laɪd, -lɪd /

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noun Astronomy.

a large, brilliant meteor, especially one that explodes; fireball.

RELATED WORDS

comet, fireball, meteorite, meteoroid

Nearby words

Origin of bolide

1850–55; < French < Greek bolid- (stem of bolís) missile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bolide

Astrophysicists say it was a bolide, or a meteor that explodes in the air.
Fire in the Sky! The Russian Meteor’s Aftermath|Anna Nemtsova|February 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Everybody's over at the tracking station, arguing about the bolide that went over last night.
Creatures of the Abyss|Murray Leinster
The bolide's course should be three hundred fifty degrees, not quite on a north-south line.
Creatures of the Abyss|Murray Leinster
But the plane saw the bolide as it struck the sea, and huge masses of steam and spray arose.
Creatures of the Abyss|Murray Leinster

It was the sound of the bolide's passage, arriving after the object itself had dived into the sea.
Creatures of the Abyss|Murray Leinster
The Bolide; she and the Enterprise had made a raid on Ithunn.
Space Viking|Henry Beam Piper

British Dictionary definitions for bolide

bolide

/ (ˈbəʊlaɪd, -lɪd) /

noun

a large exceptionally bright meteor that often explodesAlso called: fireball

Word Origin for bolide

C19: from French, from bolis missile; see ballista

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