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meteors

Astronomy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Bright streaks of light seen when small space rocks burn up in the atmosphere.

Detailed Definition
A meteor is the visible flash made when a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns. In poetry, the word often suggests sudden brilliance, speed, and a brief but intense life. Here it helps describe the “blinding sight” of the grave men.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay” compares sudden radiance to meteors; A meteor is a streak of light produced as space debris enters Earth’s atmosphere; “The meteors rushed and gleamed” gives a night scene swift, fiery motion; Contemporary poems may use meteors for brief fame, desire, or catastrophe
Additional Notes
The word in the line is a specialized astronomical term, and many readers may not know its exact meaning from everyday use.; Found in the poem, Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas
Also Known As
shooting stars celestial bodies heavenly lights astral phenomena
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