Wiktionary:Word of the day/2024/August 13

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fireball n

A ball of fire, especially one associated with an explosion, or (fiction, mythology) thrown as a weapon. (figurative) (informal) A feisty, strong-willed person. (baseball) Synonym of fastball (“a high-speed pitch of a baseball”) (astronautics) A bright glow caused by a spacecraft re-entering an atmosphere. (astronomy) A meteor bright enough to cast shadows; a bolide. (sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two. (weaponry, historical) A bag or ball filled with combustible material which is thrown as a weapon or to set something alight. (heraldry) A charge depicting a disc-shaped bombshell with flames emitted from the top, or sometimes from the top, bottom, and on either side. (obsolete) An emanation of St. Elmo's fire; also (later), of ball lightning. A ball-shaped firelighter (“small block of a flammable substance, typically a combination of sawdust and wax, used to light fires”). A ball of heat-resistant material placed in a fire to slow down the burning of the fuel. (figurative) A statement intended to cause dissension or as a provocation. fireball adj (slang) Excellent, terrific. fireball v (transitive, fiction, chiefly fantasy, science fiction) To attack (someone or something) with balls of fire. (intransitive) To explode in a ball of fire or flame. (figurative) To emerge suddenly; to explode. (baseball) To pitch a baseball very fast.

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