meteoroid

noun

me·​te·​or·​oid ˈmē-tē-ə-ˌrȯid How to pronounce meteoroid (audio)
1
: a meteor particle itself without relation to the phenomena it produces when entering the earth's atmosphere
2
: a meteor in orbit around the sun
meteoroidal adjective

Examples of meteoroid in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web By extension, meteors, also known as shooting stars, are the visible paths meteoroids leave behind when entering Earth's atmosphere at a high velocity. Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY, 30 Aug. 2023 In these streams, even the largest meteoroids—the technical term for the solid bits of rock—tend to be small, only about the size of a grain of sand. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2023 Upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere, meteoroids heat up which causes surrounding gases to glow, creating a meteor. Marina Johnson, Detroit Free Press, 10 Aug. 2023 Larger meteoroids, like the roughly 55-foot diameter Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013, go through a similar yet even more destructive process. Popular Science, 8 Aug. 2018 When the meteoroids hit the surface at those shallow angles, some of each meteoroid would shear itself off and move down range from the impact site. Liz Kruesi, Discover Magazine, 1 Apr. 2017 Based on the photos and description, Graham also suspected the object was a meteorite -- remnants of meteoroids that make it through the atmosphere and hit the ground -- but told WPVI that the college's scanning electron microscope would be able to tell if this was metal from space or Earth. Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 12 May 2023 The depressurization of the cargo craft’s coolant loop follows a similar incident in December with the Soyuz crew capsule, which Russian space officials said had been caused by a tiny meteoroid that left a small hole in the exterior radiator and sent coolant spewing into space. Vladimir Isachenkov, ajc, 11 Feb. 2023 Meteor: The light phenomena that results when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes; a shooting star. George Petras, USA Today, 23 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meteoroid.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of meteoroid was in 1865

Dictionary Entries Near meteoroid

Cite this Entry

“Meteoroid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meteoroid. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

meteoroid

noun
me·​te·​or·​oid ˈmēt-ē-ə-ˌrȯid How to pronounce meteoroid (audio)
: a meteor revolving around the sun

More from Merriam-Webster on meteoroid

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