fireball

1. (figurative)Examples: "But ſure in a family it bodeth moſt bad, vvhen tvvo firebals (huſbands and vvives anger) come both together."; "Her folks have a lot of money. I've never seen her, but she must be quite a fireball."; "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."figurativelyinformal

2. (figurative)Synonyms: fastballfiguratively

3. (astronautics) A bright glow caused by a spacecraft re-entering an atmosphere.

4. (astronomy) A meteor bright enough to cast shadows; a bolide.Examples: "[page 1] There ſeem to be three concentric ſtrata of our incumbent atmoſphere; in vvhich, or betvveen them, are produced four kinds of meteors; lightning, ſhooting ſtars, fire-balls, and northern lights. […] [page 2] Dr. [Charles] Blagden has related the hiſtory of another large meteor, or fire-ball, vvhich vvas ſeen the 18th of Auguſt, 1783, vvith many ingenious obſervations and conjectures."; "In December 1997, a fireball passed eastward before dawn over the southwestern corner of Greenland, and then blew up into at least four fragments. Just five days later, according to reports from Colombia, three fireballs struck Bogotá, one of them causing the death of four children by setting their home ablaze."; "Ninety-four years after the Tunguska fireball. […] A US Air Force spots an object as it enters the atmosphere, but loses track of it as it falls below 30 kilometres. Moments later a second satellite records a fireball exploding in the clouded sky."Synonyms: bolis

5. (sailing) A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.

6. (weaponry, historical) A bag or ball filled with combustible material which is thrown as a weapon or to set something alight.Examples: "[T]he ſlingers and archers together, vvith others alſo tumbling dovvne huge ſtones, vvith firebrands and fireballs, ſet them further off."historical