ball lightning


noun

a rare form of lightning, consisting of a bright, luminous ball that moves rapidly along objects or floats in the air.
Also called globe lightning.

Origin of ball lightning

First recorded in 1855–60

Example sentences from the Web for ball lightning

  • The mergers of ball-lightning and meteorites are not resistances to us: our data are of enormous bodies.

    The Book of the Damned |Charles Fort

British Dictionary definitions for ball lightning

ball lightning

noun

meteorol a luminous electrically charged ball occasionally seen during electrical storms

Scientific definitions for ball lightning

ball lightning

A rare form of lightning in the shape of a glowing red ball, associated with thunderstorms and sometimes accompanied by a loud noise. Ball lightning is thought to consist of ionized gas.