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• meteor
  meteor
• meteor.
  meteor.

  abbreviation

  meteorological.

meteor

¹ American  

[mee-tee-er, -awr] / ˈmi ti ər, -ˌɔr /

noun

• meteors
  plural

1. Astronomy.

   1. 

      a meteoroid that has entered the earth's atmosphere.

   2. a transient fiery streak in the sky produced by a meteoroid passing through the earth's atmosphere; a shooting star or bolide.

2. any person or object that moves, progresses, becomes famous, etc., with spectacular speed.

3. (formerly) any atmospheric phenomenon, as hail or a typhoon.

4. Military. Meteor, Britain's first operational jet fighter, a twin-engine aircraft that entered service in 1944.

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meteor. ² American  

abbreviation

1. meteorological.

2. meteorology.

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meteor British  

/ ˈmiːtɪə /

noun

1. a very small meteoroid that has entered the earth's atmosphere. Such objects have speeds approaching 70 kilometres per second

2. Also called: shooting star, falling star. the bright streak of light appearing in the sky due to the incandescence of such a body heated by friction at its surface

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meteor Scientific  

/ mē′tē-ər /

1. A bright trail or streak of light that appears in the night sky when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere. The friction with the air causes the rock to glow with heat.

2. Also called shooting star

3. A rocky body that produces such light. Most meteors burn up before reaching the Earth's surface.

4. See Note at solar system

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meteor Cultural  

1. A streak of light in the sky, often called a “shooting star,” that occurs when a bit of extraterrestrial matter falls into the atmosphere of the Earth and burns up.

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Usage

What is a meteor? A meteor is space matter that has entered Earth’s atmosphere, as in I was able to see a meteor enter our atmosphere last night through my telescope. A meteor is also the bright, fiery streak that is visible in the sky when a meteor burns up. Meteors are often referred to as shooting stars or falling stars. Simply put, a meteor is a meteoroid that has entered Earth’s atmosphere. A meteoroid is a small body of matter usually composed of dust or rock that travels through outer space. A meteor that reaches Earth’s surface is called a meteorite. Meteor is sometimes used figuratively to mean something that moves or advances at high speed, as in The new rock band was a meteor that shot up the charts. The adjective meteoric describes something involved with or related to a meteor. Meteoric is also used to describe something that resembles a meteor in terms of brightness or speed, as in We were amazed by her meteoric rise to stardom in Hollywood. A large number of meteors traveling through Earth’s surface at one time is called a meteor shower. Example: She took great pictures of last night’s meteor as it zoomed across the sky.

Discover More

Meteor showers occur at regular times during the year.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• meteorlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• meteors
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of meteor

First recorded in 1570–80; from New Latin meteōrum, from Greek metéōron “meteor, a thing in the air,” noun use of neuter of metéōros “raised in the air,” equivalent to met- met- + eōr- (variant stem of aeírein “to raise”) + -os adjective suffix

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Explanation

A meteor is a space rock that hits Earth's atmosphere. It's also another word for a shooting star — which is not a star at all, but a streak of light visible in the sky when a meteor burns up in the atmosphere. There are a lot of large objects in space: stars, planets, and moons. There are smaller bodies, too, such as meteoroids — small chunks of rock or metal orbiting the sun. When a meteoroid enters Earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor. This word is also used for the streak of light caused when this happens, commonly called a shooting star. Sometimes there are meteor showers, when Earth passes through a trail of space objects that then burn up due to friction with Earth's atmosphere.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

meteor meteor. meteors

Three meteor showers offer multiple opportunities to catch shooting stars, including occasional fireballs bright enough to stand out dramatically against the night sky.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

Then, the annual Leonids meteor shower is expected to peak on Nov. 17 and 18, according to the Planetary Society website.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

When you see a meteor shower, what you are actually looking at is the debris stream from a comet, Thompson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

By Phase 3, the meteor has become much brighter, developing into a fireball.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

One night when she was checking the items on a grocery bill a thought shot into her mind, shining and winking like a meteor.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

“In the case of climate, we are not the dinosaurs — we are the meteor. We are not only in danger — we are the danger. But we are also the solution.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

A bolide is the only noisy type of meteor.*

From Time Magazine Archive

This consequence is so dependant, that Fromondus De meteor. l.

From The Discovery of a World in the Moone Or, A Discovrse Tending To Prove That 'Tis Probable There May Be Another Habitable World In That Planet by John Wilkins

Another proof of Athene's connection with storm is the miracle she works when she sets a flame to fly from the head of Diomede or of Achilles,*** or fleets from the sky like a meteor.****

From Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Andrew Lang

Even under excellent conditions, each typically produces only about five meteors per hour.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

“It doesn’t have lots and lots of meteors, but sometimes it gets some of the bigger and slower and more interesting ones,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

At the peak of the Taurid meteor shower, observers in areas with little light pollution can typically expect to see a modest 10 to 15 meteors per hour, Thompson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

Some meteors also display repeating changes in brightness, which can reveal how quickly they are spinning.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2026

On some nights you can see a shower of meteors, always on the same few days of every year—a natural fireworks display, an entertainment in the heavens.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• meteoroid
• shooting star

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