meteorite
A meteorite is a piece of space rock that has fallen to Earth. It's often found in deserts or fields after a meteor has streaked across the sky and exploded.
Meteorites are usually small boulders that have broken off from asteroids or other objects floating in space. When they enter our atmosphere, they're burning up and creating the bright streak of light we see as a shooting star. If it's large enough, some of the rock might survive the journey to Earth and land intact. These landed rocks are called meteorites.
As for parts of speech, "meteor" can be a noun (a piece of space rock) or a verb (to describe something that is rapidly moving through the air, like a shooting star). The word "meteorite", specifically referring to the landed rock, is usually an adjective describing the type of space debris.
How common is "meteorite"?
It appears most frequently in magazine texts and less often in other writings.
noun
A metallic or stony object or body that is the remains of a meteoroid.
Real examples of "meteorite" in context
