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.
She said: "Based on the fireball trajectory, the event occurred over the North Sea so, sadly, we do not expect any recoverable meteorites."
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
Crews on the ground will monitor the Artemis II capsule and send those test pilots precise speeds and coordinates to hit as they follow the fireball in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
In the early hours of February 19, 2025, the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket was tumbling back to Earth when it exploded into a fireball that made headlines from the UK to Poland.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
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
Those within three thousand kilometers of the impact witness a fireball larger than the sunrise over the horizon.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
