airburst

noun

air·​burst ˈer-ˌbərst How to pronounce airburst (audio)
variants or air burst
: the burst of a shell or bomb in the air

Examples of airburst in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
The asteroid is estimated to be traveling at about 17 km (10.5 miles) per second, which would create a large airburst and shock wave in the atmosphere. Michael Irving, New Atlas, 19 Feb. 2025 The Chelyabinsk airburst, caused when a small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere and exploded over a Russian city in February 2013, rattled many astronomers, space agencies and governments, and partly in response to this dramatic event, NASA reactivated NEOWISE in September 2013. Keith Cooper, Space.com, 13 Feb. 2025 Scientists now believe this was due to a meteor airburst. Jonathan Granoff, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025 But previous experience from WWII shows just how effective this type of airburst weapon is. David Hambling, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024 See All Example Sentences for airburst

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of airburst was in 1914

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Airburst.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airburst. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on airburst

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!