fireball
Americannoun
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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
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.
If things get spicy, there’s always Abbey Murphy, the Minnesota scorer and fireball who will mix it up with anyone, including a goalie.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
Social media videos showed a fireball erupting into the night sky at the Plastmass plant, which produces explosives, including for the Russian army.
From Barron's • Oct. 29, 2025
If one enters the atmosphere, it can create a bright fireball and sometimes leave behind small meteorites on the ground.
From Science Daily • Oct. 9, 2025
Videos taken when the explosion occurred around 9:30 p.m. showed a massive fireball erupt amid a loud, extended roar.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 3, 2025
Standing next to Lawrence, Serber had trained his unprotected eyes directly on the fireball at the moment of detonation.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
