fireball

fire +‎ ball

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪ.ə(ɹ)ˌbɔːl/

  • Audio (RP)

    (file)

fireball (plural fireballs)

1. A ball of fire, especially one associated with an explosion.
   • 2021 March 14, Drachinifel, The Drydock - Episode 137‎, archived from the original on 8 November 2022, 1:05:17 from the start:

     At the time of this photo, Royal Marine Gunner Bryan Gasson is pretty much dead center in this photo, and yes, that means HE IS LITERALLY INSIDE THAT SOCKING GREAT FIREBALL as the magazines detonate.

2. (astronomy) A meteor bright enough to cast shadows.

   Synonym: bolis

   Coordinate terms: comet, meteorite

   • 2003, Trevor Palmer, Paul D. Taylor, Robert N. Brandon, Perilous Planet Earth: Catastrophes and Catastrophism Through the Ages, →ISBN:

     In January 1999, a fireball exploded over Alaska.

   • 2005, Surendra Verma, The Mystery of the Tunguska Fireball, →ISBN, page 234:

     Moments later a second satellite records a fireball exploding in the clouded sky.

3. (figurative) A feisty, strong-willed person.
   • 2022 February 23, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain, Comic 1474 - Tie the Knot:

     "And Lydia's a sassy little fireball. Today's her first day of first grade, and I'm just glad her teacher hasn't had to call."

4. (sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.
5. (heraldry) A charge made of a disc-shaped bomb shell, with four sets of flames, at the top, bottom and on either side.
6. (military, historical) A ball filled with combustibles to be thrown among enemies.

• fireballer

fireball (third-person singular simple present fireballs, present participle fireballing, simple past and past participle fireballed)

1. (intransitive) To explode in a ball of flame.

   The car swerved off a road, hit a wall, and fireballed as the petrol tank exploded.

2. (baseball) To pitch the ball very fast.
3. (transitive, fantasy) To attack with balls of fire.