meteor

¹ American  

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

noun

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

• meteorlike adjective

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

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

Footage of the meteor was captured in Hornsea, Billingborough and Moulton Seas End among other locations.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Charlotte Bays, secretary of the UK Fireball Alliance, said the meteor had been spotted across northern Europe at about 00:24 BST on Monday, but finding any material from it was unlikely.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Scientists said a fireball spotted in the skies above East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire was a meteor.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

They also described flashes of light -- meteor strikes -- on the Moon's surface.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

I’m propped on my bed drawing Brian, who’s a few feet away at my desk watching a meteor shower on some astronomy site he’s addicted to.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

Related Words

• meteoroid
• shooting star