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
The shower is also famous for its bright "fireball" meteors.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 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
"We've still got two more days, and riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well."
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
“The white fireball engulfed the tower, and expanding rapidly, changing color, it rushed upwards.”
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
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
Video images of the fireballs circled the globe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Daytime fireballs also occur, but they must be extremely bright to be visible against sunlight.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2025
Sometimes meteors can even appear brighter than the planet Venus – these are called fireballs, external.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
These fireballs were brujas on their way to their meeting places.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
