meteorites

noun

1. a mass of stone or metal that has reached the earth from outer space; a fallen meteoroid.
2. a meteoroid.

noun

1. a rocklike object consisting of the remains of a meteoroid that has fallen on earth. It may be stony (chondrite), iron, or stony iron (pallasite)See chondrite

n.“rock that falls to earth, after streaking across the sky as a meteor,” 1818, from meteor + -ite.

1. A meteor that reaches the Earth’s surface because it has not been burned up by friction with the atmosphere. Meteorites are believed to be fragments of comets and asteroids.♦ Meteorites that consist mostly of silicates are called stony meteorites and are classified as either chondrites or achondrites. ♦ Meteorites that consist mostly of iron are called iron meteorites. ♦ Meteorites that consist of a mixture of silicates and iron are called stony-iron meteorites.

Objects from outside the Earth that enter the Earth’s field of gravitation and fall to the Earth’s surface. Meteors, on the other hand, are objects from space that burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.