thunder

[ thuhn-der ]

noun

1. a loud, explosive, resounding noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heated by a lightning discharge.
2. any loud, resounding noise:

   the thunder of applause.

3. a threatening or startling utterance, denunciation, or the like.

verb (used without object)

1. to give forth thunder (often used impersonally with it as the subject):

   It thundered last night.

2. to make a loud, resounding noise like thunder:

   The artillery thundered in the hills.

3. to utter loud or vehement denunciations, threats, or the like.
4. to speak in a very loud tone.
5. to move or go with a loud noise or violent action:

   The train thundered through the village.

verb (used with object)

1. to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.

thunder

/ ˈθʌndə /

noun

1. a loud cracking or deep rumbling noise caused by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases which are suddenly heated by lightning
2. any loud booming sound
3. rare.
   a violent threat or denunciation
4. steal someone's thunder
   to detract from the attention due to another by forestalling him or her

verb

1. to make (a loud sound) or utter (words) in a manner suggesting thunder
2. intr; with it as subject to be the case that thunder is being heard
3. intr to move fast and heavily

   the bus thundered downhill

4. intr to utter vehement threats or denunciation; rail

thunder

/ thŭn′dər /

1. The explosive noise that accompanies a stroke of lightning. Thunder is a series of sound waves produced by the rapid expansion of the air through which the lightning passes. Sound travels about 1 km in 3 seconds (about 1 mi in 5 seconds). The distance between an observer and a lightning flash can be calculated by counting the number of seconds between the flash and the thunder.
2. See Note at lightning

thunder

1. The noise created when air rushes back into a region from which it has been expelled by the passage of lightning .

Derived Forms

• ˈthunderer, noun
• ˈthundery, adjective

Other Words From

• thunder·er noun
• thunder·less adjective
• outthunder verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of thunder¹

before 900; (noun) Middle English thonder, thunder, Old English thunor; cognate with Dutch donder, German Donner; Old Norse thōrr Thor, literally, thunder; (v.) Middle English thondren, Old English thunrian, derivative of the v.; akin to Latin tonāre to thunder

Word History and Origins

Origin of thunder¹

Old English thunor; related to Old Saxon thunar, Old High German donar, Old Norse thōrr; see Thor , Thursday

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. steal someone's thunder,
   1. to use for one's own purposes and without the knowledge or permission of the originator the inventions or ideas of another.
   2. to ruin or detract from the effect of a performance, remark, etc., by anticipating it.

More idioms and phrases containing thunder

see under steal someone's thunder .

Example Sentences

The seismometer has even been known to pick up the faint thunder of dust devils whirling across the cold desert world.

From Quanta Magazine

He’d worried that if crews slowed the Catalan fires, they might cause it to form a pyrocumulonimbus—a violent cloud of fire, thunder, and wind like the one that formed over the Creek Fire.

From MIT Technology Review

Sure, Hulk is strong, Thor can control thunder and Captain Marvel can fly and shoot energy beams.

From Time

As for the possibility of thunderstorms, we cannot rule out some rumbles of thunder in the heavier rain cells.

From Washington Post

Unfortunately, rains arrive tomorrow and could be heavy at times with even a rumble or two of thunder.

From Washington Post

I inherited the Arnold Family Thunder ThighsTM, which was a source of frequent teasing and distress for me as a child.

From The Daily Beast

Watch your back Liam Neeson, here comes Kevin Costner to steal your older-leading-man thunder!

From The Daily Beast

Zilch, what with Showtime's other steamy sex-heavy drama, The Affair, stealing its thunder.

From The Daily Beast

And the second I arrived and did my last step, there was thunder and rain pouring.

From The Daily Beast

And then the flares light up the sky and the building begins to shake from the deadly thunder of Protective Edge.

From The Daily Beast

The riches of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, and shall pass away with a noise like a great thunder in rain.

From Project Gutenberg

The tops of the hills were laden with thunder-clouds, and the turbid atmosphere laboured with the stifling Sirocco.

From Project Gutenberg

The menace of a thunder-cloud approached as in his childhood's dream; disaster lurked behind the quiet outer show.

From Project Gutenberg

One day the hopes of all were aroused by a distant roar in the mountains, only to be dashed by finding it to be thunder.

From Project Gutenberg

It was a few days after the bursting of this domestic thunder-cloud, that Gilbert and Dorothy were thrown alone together.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• resound
• reverberate
• roar
• rumble