Word
meteor
Phoneticsme·te·or
US/ˈmitiɝ/
UK/mˈiːtɪɐ/
Definitions
01shooting star
n. a bright streak of light in the night sky caused by a piece of space rock burning up in the atmosphere.
n. the visible streak of light produced by a meteoroid heating up as it enters a planetary atmosphere.
“We sat on the grass for hours watching the meteor shower.”
“The friction of the atmosphere causes the meteor to vaporise, creating a brilliant trail that is visible from the ground for several seconds.”
Pitfall
The meteor hit the ground and made a hole.
The meteorite hit the ground and made a hole.
Use 'meteor' for the light in the sky and 'meteorite' for the rock that actually lands on the ground.
Synonyms
02brief success
n. a person or thing that becomes very famous or successful very quickly but only for a short time.
n. a person or entity that achieves sudden, brilliant, but transient success or fame.
“The young singer was a meteor who disappeared from the charts after one hit.”
“His political career was something of a meteor; he rose to the cabinet within a year only to resign in scandal months later.”
Literary
Synonyms
03to move fast
v. to move at a very high speed.
v. to move with great speed or momentum, often in a sudden or uncontrolled manner.
“The race car meteored past the finish line.”
“The experimental aircraft meteored across the desert sky, leaving a thin white trail against the deep blue of the afternoon.”
Literary
Usage
The verb is intransitive and does not take a direct object.
Real-World Examples
“I followed owl calls, watched meteors and listened for night-migrating birds.” Etymology
From Middle French météore, from Old French, from Latin meteorum, from Ancient Greek μετέωρον (metéōron), from μετέωρος (metéōros, “raised from the ground, hanging, lofty”), from μετά (metá, “in the midst of, among, between”) (English meta) + ἀείρω (aeírō, “to lift, to heave, to raise up”). The original sense of “atmospheric phenomenon” gave rise to meteorology, but the meaning of "meteor" is now restricted to extraterrestrial objects burning up as they enter the atmosphere.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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englishreference.com/q/meteor