shooting star
noun
1
: a visual meteor appearing as a temporary streak of light in the night sky
2
: any of several North American perennial herbs (genus Primula, especially P. meadia) of the primrose family that have entire oblong leaves and showy flowers with reflexed petals
3
: one resembling a shooting star especially in sudden and temporary brilliance
Examples of shooting star in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Meteor showers, or shooting stars, happen when Earth’s orbital path crosses a path of debris left by a comet and that material burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
—
Gretchen Rundorff, WIRED, 2 Jan. 2025
Winter In The Outer Banks Draws The Eyes To The Skies For Incredible Stargazing
A string of islands off the coast of North Carolina is the perfect place to escape artificial lights and find the natural ones, including meteor showers, shooting stars, and twinkling constellations.
—Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2025
And even though light may be drowned out by the full moon, there's still a very good chance to see shooting stars as the Geminids are known to produce some bright meteors.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 13 Dec. 2024
As Earth passes through the debris trail left by this celestial body, tiny particles enter our atmosphere at high speeds, burning up and creating bright streaks of light known as meteors or shooting stars.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 2 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for shooting star 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Gretchen Rundorff, WIRED, 2 Jan. 2025
Winter In The Outer Banks Draws The Eyes To The Skies For Incredible Stargazing
A string of islands off the coast of North Carolina is the perfect place to escape artificial lights and find the natural ones, including meteor showers, shooting stars, and twinkling constellations.
—Rebecca Deurlein, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2025
And even though light may be drowned out by the full moon, there's still a very good chance to see shooting stars as the Geminids are known to produce some bright meteors.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 13 Dec. 2024
As Earth passes through the debris trail left by this celestial body, tiny particles enter our atmosphere at high speeds, burning up and creating bright streaks of light known as meteors or shooting stars.
—Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 2 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for shooting star
Dictionary Entries Near shooting star
Cite this Entry
“Shooting star.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shooting%20star. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share