Shōōt'ing-stär, n.

n. A star-like, luminous meteor, which, appearing suddenly, darts quickly across some portion of the sky, and as suddenly disappears, leaving sometimes, for a few seconds, a luminous train.

Shooting-stars are supposed to be small cosmical bodies which the earth meets in its annual revolution, and which become visible by passing with planetary velocity through the upper regions of the atmosphere. At certain periods, they appear in great numbers, apparently diverging from the point in the heavens toward which the earth is moving, as on the 13th of November and 10th of August, such displays being known as meteoric showers.