Meanings
plural bolides
- Any extraterrestrial body that collides with Earth.
The smallest impactor that can penetrate the atmosphere deep enough to cause any damage on the ground is not much smaller than the "Tunguska" bolide that flattened a couple thousand square miles of Siberian forest in 1908.
2004, Alan Harris, “SPACEGUARD REDUX, PUT TO TEST”, in Astrobiology Magazine - A fireball.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn extremely bright meteor.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekβολίς“missile, arrow, javelin”
- Latinbolis
- Frenchbolide
- Englishbolide
Borrowed from French bolide, from Latin bolis, from Ancient Greek βολίς (bolís, “missile, arrow, javelin”). Doublet of bolis.
More words from French, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan bòlid
- bòlidextremely bright meteor
Czech bolid
- bolidextremely bright meteor
Dutch bolide, vuurbol
- bolideextremely bright meteor
- vuurbolextremely bright meteor
Esperanto bolido
- bolidoextremely bright meteor
Finnish bolidi, tulipallo
- bolidiextremely bright meteor
- tulipalloextremely bright meteor
French bolide
- bolideextremely bright meteor
German Bolide, Feuerball
- Bolideextremely bright meteor
- Feuerballextremely bright meteor
Italian bolide, meteora
- bolideextremely bright meteor
- meteoraany extraterrestrial body that collides with earth
Japanese 火球
- 火球 (kakyū)extremely bright meteor
Persian شخانه, تیرشهاب
- شخانه (šaxâne)extremely bright meteor
- تیرشهاب (tiršahâb)extremely bright meteor
Polish bolid, meteor
- bolidextremely bright meteor
- meteorany extraterrestrial body that collides with earth
Punjabi ਉਲਕਾ ਪਿੰਡ
- ਉਲਕਾ ਪਿੰਡ (ulakā piṇḍ)extremely bright meteor
Russian боли́д, метеори́т
- боли́д (bolíd)extremely bright meteor
- метеори́т (meteorít)any extraterrestrial body that collides with earth
Spanish bólido
- bólidoextremely bright meteor
Swedish bolid, eldklot
- bolidextremely bright meteor
- eldklotextremely bright meteor
- eldkulaextremely bright meteor
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
bolide. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolide
“bolide.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolide. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bolide,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolide.
Source: bolide on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.