[a. F. bolide, ad. L. bolid-em (nom. bolis) large meteor, a. Gr. βολίς missile, f. stem of βάλλειν to throw.] A large meteor; usually one that explodes and falls in the form of aerolites; a fire-ball.
1852. Th. Ross, trans. Humboldt’s Trav., I. x. 352. Not … a space equal in extent to three diameters of the moon, which was not filled every instant with bolides and falling stars.
1870. Proctor, Other Worlds, ix. 192. Explode into small fragments, as bolides and fireballs have been observed to do.
1884. Jefferies, Life of Fields, 183. It was not for some seconds I thought of looking for the bolide.
