Fireball vs. Meteor — What's the Difference?

A brilliantly burning sphere.

A bright streak of light that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere. Also called falling star, meteor burst, shooting star.

A highly luminous, intensely hot spherical cloud of dust, gas, and vapor generated by a nuclear explosion.

A meteoroid or meteorite.

See bolide.

(Archaic) Any atmospheric phenomenon, such as a rainbow, lightning, or snow.

See ball of fire.

An atmospheric or meteorological phenomenon. These were sometimes classified as aerial or airy meteors (winds), aqueous or watery meteors (hydrometeors: clouds, rain, snow, hail, dew, frost), luminous meteors (rainbows and aurora), and igneous or fiery meteors (lightning and shooting stars).

A ball of fire, especially one associated with an explosion.

A fast-moving streak of light in the night sky caused by the entry of extraterrestrial matter into the earth's atmosphere; a shooting star or falling star.

(astronomy) A meteor bright enough to cast shadows.

(juggling) A prop similar to poi balls, in that it is twirled at the end of a cord or cable.

(figurative) A feisty, strong-willed person.

(martial arts) A striking weapon resembling a track and field hammer consisting of a weight swung at the end of a cable or chain.

(sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.

(figurative) Any short-lived source of wonderment.

(heraldry) A charge made of a disc-shaped bomb shell, with four sets of flames, at the top, bottom and on either side.

(intransitive) To move at great speed.

A ball filled with combustibles to be thrown among enemies.

Any phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds, rain, hail, snow, etc.

(intransitive) To explode in a ball of flame.

Specif.: A transient luminous body or appearance seen in the atmosphere, or in a more elevated region.

(baseball) To pitch the ball very fast.

A mass of stone or other substance which sometimes falls to the earth from space beyond the moon, burning up from atomospheric friction and creating a brilliant but usually very brief trail of light in the atmosphere; also called a shooting star.

To attack with balls of fire.

A streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes the meteoroid to melt or vaporize or explode

A ball filled with powder or other combustibles, intended to be thrown among enemies, and to injure by explosion; also, to set fire to their works and light them up, so that movements may be seen.

(astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies that hits the earth's atmosphere

A rare phenomenon often associated with or caused by lightning, resembling a luminous ball of fire passing rapidly through the air or along solid objects, then disappearing, and sometimes exploding. It seldom lasts more than a few seconds. Also called ball lightning, globe lightning, globular lightning, or kugelblitz.

A large mass of fire caused by a large explosion, as of inflammable liquids or a nuclear device. The larger fireballs, as of nuclear explosions, rise seemingly intact into the air and may reach high altitudes while still glowing.

An especially luminous meteor (sometimes exploding)

A highly energetic and indefatigable person

A ball of fire (such as the sun or a ball-shaped discharge of lightning)

The luminous center of a nuclear explosion