meteor shower

A night-time event in which many small bits of rock from space make brief streaks of light as they burn in the sky.

The streaks are caused by bits of space rock entering Earth’s atmosphere, and they can appear to come from one part of the sky; the phrase describes the event, not a literal shower of stars.

• We drove out of town to watch the meteor shower away from the city lights.
• According to the forecast, the meteor shower should be easiest to see after midnight.
• I’d never seen a meteor shower before, so I stayed outside until the clouds cleared.