bolide

[ boh-lahyd, -lid ]

See synonyms for bolide on Thesaurus.com

nounAstronomy.

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

Origin of bolide

First recorded in 1850–55; from French, from Greek bolid- (stem of bolís ) “missile”

Words Nearby bolide

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

How to use bolide in a sentence

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 | THE DAILY BEAST
It said blandly that a bolide—a slow-moving, large meteoric object—had been observed by radar to be descending to earth.
Operation Terror | William Fitzgerald Jenkins
A bolide had fallen into the Catanian sea—he took me to the port and showed me precisely where.
Castellinaria | Henry Festing Jones
They stopped arguing about last night's bolide to take ringside seats.
Creatures of the Abyss | Murray Leinster
The argument on the path of last night's bolide and why it fell where it did is again in order.
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

British Dictionary definitions for bolide

bolide

/ (ˈbəʊlaɪd, -lɪd) /

noun

a large exceptionally bright meteor that often explodes: Also called: fireball

Origin of 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

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