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meteor shower

meteor shower

22 3.4
Many bright shooting stars appear in the night sky at once
  • noun
  • /ˈmiːtiɔr ˈʃaʊər/
translation icon : lluvia de meteoros
  • You won't want to miss the Geminid meteor shower this year.
  • the meteor shower peak
  • Perseid meteor shower
  • Leonid meteor shower

You know, people would actually go outside before the atmosphere was destroyed by a giant meteor shower.

Examples

  • The Perseid meteor shower will put on a nice show this year.

    Academic text (2005)
  • There is always a heavy meteor shower this time of the year.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • So I invited them to watch the meteor shower with us.

  • Hope you enjoyed that meteor shower last night.

  • Did you see the meteor shower?

  • Few people realize January brings the meteor shower with the highest average rate.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The 2006 Quadrantid meteor shower benefits from the Moon's absence.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Astronomers think the Draconid meteor shower could have an outburst this year.

    Academic text (2005)
  • We're taking a camping trip to Death Valley to watch the meteor shower next month.

  • I stayed up all night to watch the meteor shower on the eleventh.

Synonyms

Aquarid
vsmeteor shower
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A meteor shower that appears to come from the group of stars called Aquarius

refers to the general event of many shooting stars appearing from one point
Quadrantid
vsmeteor shower
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A meteor shower that appears every January in the night sky

describes the same general event not tied to a specific date or name

Surface Forms

meteor shower singular

Morphology

meteor + shower

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'meteor' (a small space object that creates light) with 'shower' (a brief fall or sudden falling items): it denotes a fall or display of many meteors. The use of 'shower' for a group of falling objects is a common, cross-linguistic metaphor and follows a regular noun+noun compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.

Etymology

Meteor shower comes from a simple picture: many small lights falling like rain. When people saw lots of 'shooting stars' coming from one spot, they compared meteors to a shower, so it means a time when many meteors are seen.