a chunk of rock or metal from space that survives entry into Earth's atmosphere and lands on the surface
A large meteorite crashed into the desert, creating a huge crater.
The museum's star exhibit is a polished slice of a 4-billion-year-old meteorite.
✦ Coined around 1835 from 'meteor' + '-ite' (a suffix denoting minerals or fossils, from Greek -itēs).
