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
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:
As this nuclear fireball grows, it mixes with the surrounding atmosphere, cools, and eventually condenses into tiny solid particles that become nuclear fallout.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
Scientists said a fireball spotted in the skies above East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire was a meteor.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
When it does, the agency expects to lose communication for about six minutes as the Orion capsule holding the astronauts is enveloped in a fireball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
When part of a SpaceX rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere exactly a year ago, it created a spectacuglar fireball that streaked across Europe's skies, delighting stargazers and sending a team of scientists rushing towards their instruments.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Wart-face’s nostrils quivered as he prepared to vent the inhaled fireball.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
The Pentagon released scores of UFO files on Friday with descriptions of reported sightings of orbs, discs and fireballs spanning 80 years.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Witnesses described seeing "green orbs, discs and fireballs" dating as far back as 1948, the files show.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Video images of the fireballs circled the globe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Those June meteors are rarely visible unless they produce exceptionally bright fireballs.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2025
The monsters’ siege tower was still hurling explosive green fireballs into the streets.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
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.
