cloud

[ kloud ]

noun

1. a visible collection of particles of water or ice suspended in the air, usually at an elevation above the earth's surface.

   Synonyms: vapor

2. any similar mass, especially of smoke or dust.
3. a dim or obscure area in something otherwise clear or transparent.
4. a patch or spot differing in color from the surrounding surface.
5. anything that obscures or darkens something, or causes gloom, trouble, suspicion, disgrace, etc.
6. a great number of insects, birds, etc., flying together:

   a cloud of locusts obscuring the sun.

   Synonyms: army, crowd, host, throng, multitude, horde, swarm

7. Digital Technology. Usually the cloud. any of several, often proprietary, parts of the internet that allow online processing and storage of documents and data as well as electronic access to software and other resources:

   More and more software companies are encouraging users to store their work in the cloud.

adjective

, Digital Technology.

1. of or relating to cloud computing:

   cloud software; cloud servers.

2. relating to or doing business on the internet:

   Google and other cloud companies.

verb (used with object)

1. to overspread or cover with, or as with, a cloud or clouds:

   The smoke from the fire clouded the sun from view.

2. to overshadow; obscure; darken:

   The hardships of war cloud his childhood memories.

3. to make gloomy.
4. (of distress, anxiety, etc.) to reveal itself in (a part of one's face):

   Worry clouded his brow.

5. to make obscure or indistinct; confuse:

   Don't cloud the issue with unnecessary details.

   Synonyms: distort, muddle

6. to place under suspicion, disgrace, etc.
7. to variegate with patches of another color.

verb (used without object)

1. to grow cloudy; become clouded.
2. (of a part of one's face) to reveal one's distress, anxiety, etc.:

   His brow clouded with anger.

cloud

/ klaʊd /

noun

1. See stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus
   a mass of water or ice particles visible in the sky, usually white or grey, from which rain or snow falls when the particles coagulate See also cirrus cumulonimbus cumulus stratus
2. any collection of particles visible in the air, esp of smoke or dust
3. a large number of insects or other small animals in flight
4. something that darkens, threatens, or carries gloom
5. jewellery a cloudlike blemish in a transparent stone
6. modifier of or relating to cloud computing

   a cloud application

7. in the clouds
   in the clouds not in contact with reality
8. under a cloud
   under a cloud
   1. under reproach or suspicion
   2. in a state of gloom or bad temper
9. on cloud nine informal.
   on cloud nine elated; very happy

verb

1. whenintr, often foll by over or up to make or become cloudy, overcast, or indistinct
2. tr to make obscure; darken
3. tr to confuse or impair

   emotion clouded his judgment

4. to make or become gloomy or depressed
5. tr to place under or render liable to suspicion or disgrace
6. to render (liquids) milky or dull or (of liquids) to become milky or dull
7. to become or render mottled or variegated

cloud

/ kloud /

1. A visible body of very fine water droplets or ice particles suspended in the atmosphere at altitudes ranging up to several miles above sea level. Clouds are formed when air that contains water vapor cools below the dew point.
2. A distinguishable mass of particles or gas, such as the collection of gases and dust in a nebula.

Derived Forms

• ˈcloudless, adjective
• ˈcloudˌlike, adjective
• ˈcloudlessly, adverb
• ˈcloudlessness, noun

Other Words From

• cloudlike adjective
• inter·cloud verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloud¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English clūd “rock, hill”; akin to clod, Greek gloutós “buttock”; gluteus ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of cloud¹

C13 (in the sense: a mass of vapour): from Old English clūd rock, hill; probably related to clod

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in the clouds,
   1. in a condition of absent-mindedness; lost in reverie.
   2. impractical:

      Their schemes are usually up in the clouds.

2. on a cloud, Informal. exceedingly happy; in high spirits:

   On the night of the prom the seniors were on a cloud.

3. under a cloud, in disgrace; under suspicion:

   After going bankrupt he left town under a cloud.

More idioms and phrases containing cloud

• head in the clouds
• on cloud nine
• silver lining, every cloud has
• under a cloud

Synonym Study

Cloud, fog, haze, mist differ somewhat in their figurative uses. Cloud connotes especially daydreaming: His mind is in the clouds. Fog and haze connote especially bewilderment or confusion: to go around in a fog ( haze ). Mist has an emotional connotation and suggests tears: a mist in one's eyes.

Example Sentences

Accenture isn’t a cloud technology company, but it is the leading partner for most of the cloud companies in implementing wide-ranging enterprise applications.

From Fortune

Alongside the IPO, Snowflake also sold shares privately to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and to top cloud software developer Salesforce.

From Fortune

Investors understand the cloud business model well and that makes a high-growth company like Snowflake attractive.

From Fortune

Two of Snowflake’s founders worked at database giant Oracle for more than a decade before striking out on their own to create a new design for databases in the cloud.

From Fortune

The test also included a mini cloud server, which allowed quicker connections to cloud software apps.

From Fortune

(Somewhere, on another cloud, live gigabytes of photos from these very parties).

From The Daily Beast

An innovative gift is the Qardioarm, a blood pressure monitor that records readings and uploads them to the cloud.

From The Daily Beast

By Alex Orlov for Life by DailyBurn Do dark, chilly days make your mood cloud over this time each year?

From The Daily Beast

The FSLN-controlled legislative assembly approved the mega-project under a cloud of secrecy in a record seven days.

From The Daily Beast

People were singing the national anthem as the whole front of the National Palace was obscured by a smoke cloud.

From The Daily Beast

For several months he remained under a political cloud, charged with incompetency to quell the Philippine Rebellion.

From Project Gutenberg

Bacteria, when present in great numbers, give a uniform cloud which cannot be removed by ordinary filtration.

From Project Gutenberg

Two years later this promising recruit, having fallen foul of the military authorities, had to leave the service under a cloud.

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

A present remedy of all is the speedy coming of a cloud, and a dew that meeteth it, by the heat that cometh, shall overpower it.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• darkness
• fog
• gloom
• mist
• puff
• smog
• smoke
• steam
• vapor
• veil