bolide
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈboʊlaɪd/
- Specialized
:
bólido
- Chunchucmil lies in a flat, karstic plain about 45 kilometers southwest of the Chicxulub bolide impact structure, a crater created by a meteorite that struck Earth 65 million years ago (Perry and others 1995).
Examples
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Bolide: an exceptionally bright meteor.
Academic text (2001) -
The other thing that everyone seems to have overlooked when calculating the odds is the fact that the bolide does not have to actually strike the airplane in order to bring it down; it just has to get close enough so that the electromagnetic disturbance caused by it will affect its electronic instruments.
Blog text (1) -
Fireball: an exceptionally bright meteor (same as a bolide).
Academic text (2001) -
A dazzling bolide streaked across Midwestern skies on February 12, 1875.
Academic text (2003) -
With the discovery of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico and other evidence, scientists were able to make type 3 statements because, while accepting the idea of a bolide impact, they still remain divided on the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs.
Academic text (2001) -
The bolide lit up the skies over Flagstaff in the early morning hours.
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A dazzling bolide streaked across Midwestern skies on February 12, 1875.
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If you're lucky, you'll spot a fireball or a bolide that explodes at the end of its path.
Synonyms
300
4.1
A small rock from space that burns up as a bright streak in the sky
48
4.9
A very bright ball of fire and light seen in the sky after a big explosion
18
2.6
A bright streak of light in the night sky when a small rock from space burns up
How Bright
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word bolide comes from an old Greek word bolis, meaning 'missile' or 'thrown object', and it has the same idea as ballistic about things that are shot or thrown. So a bolide is like a space 'missile' that burns very brightly and can explode in the air, which is why we use the word for a very bright meteor that may explode in the atmosphere.