from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
meteor
n 1: (astronomy) any of the small solid extraterrestrial bodies
that hits the earth's atmosphere [syn: {meteoroid},
{meteor}]
2: a streak of light in the sky at night that results when a
meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes
the meteoroid to melt or vaporize or explode [syn: {meteor},
{shooting star}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Meteor \Me"te*or\, n. [F. m['e]t['e]ore, Gr. ?, pl. ? things in
the air, fr. ? high in air, raised off the ground; ? beyond +
?, ?, a suspension or hovering in the air, fr. ? to lift,
raise up.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Any phenomenon or appearance in the atmosphere, as clouds,
rain, hail, snow, etc.
[1913 Webster]
Hail, an ordinary meteor. --Bp. Hall.
[1913 Webster]
2. Specif.: A transient luminous body or appearance seen in
the atmosphere, or in a more elevated region.
[1913 Webster]
The vaulty top of heaven
Figured quite o'er with burning meteors. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. A mass of stone or other substance which sometimes falls
to the earth from space beyond the moon, burning up from
atomospheric friction and creating a brilliant but usually
very brief trail of light in the atmosphere; also called a
{shooting star}.
[PJC]
Note: The term is especially applied to fireballs, and the
masses of stone or other substances which sometimes
fall to the earth; also to shooting stars and to ignes
fatui. Meteors are often classed as: aerial meteors,
winds, tornadoes, etc.; aqueous meteors, rain, hail,
snow, dew, etc.; luminous meteors, rainbows, halos,
etc.; and igneous meteors, lightning, shooting stars,
and the like.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
METEOR
A version of COMIT with Lisp-like syntax, written in MIT Lisp
1.5 for the IBM 7090. "METEOR - A List Interpreter for String
Transformation", D.G. Bobrow in The Programming Language LISP
and its Interpretation, E.D. and D.G. Bobrow eds, 1964.