Talk:fireball

There is a figurative sense, of people ("she's a real fireball!"), but I'm not sure what it is. It might be a fiery-tempered person (like (deprecated template usage) hellcat) or it might be someone who is feisty. Equinox ◑ 23:01, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

RFV discussion: October–November 2018

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fireball

"An explosion that results in a fireball" -- distinct from sense 1, the ball of flame itself. Equinox ◑ 18:11, 7 October 2018 (UTC)

It gets hard to tell. I put a bunch of cites on the citations page, and would appreciate it if someone else took a look at them. Kiwima (talk) 05:08, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

In the first two citations, the fireball is a meteor, and the explosion is caused by the fireball, not the other way around. In the other citations involving an explosion, the referent is definitely the fireball resulting from an explosion, not the explosion preceding the fireball.  --Lambiam 08:17, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

Even the 2014? It talks about the fireball causing a surge of energy. Kiwima (talk) 20:38, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

I wouldn’t put much weight on that source; it is fiction written by someone with a limited understanding of scientific facts. The hero, Bolan, sees gasoline running, spreading, pooling, and getting ignited. The text then has, “Bolan knew how fast ignited gasoline could gather momentum.” Next thing, the fire “blows” and flames burst (presumably as a ball of fire), whereupon we have the surge of energy created by this fireball throwing our hero aside. Not very clear, but at best a case of confusion, not a different sense of the term “fireball”.  --Lambiam 21:59, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

• Merge these definitions. Ƿidsiþ 13:21, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

RFV-resolved Kiwima (talk) 18:56, 8 November 2018 (UTC)