Advertisement
Advertisement
lightning
[ lahyt-ning ]
noun
- a brilliant electric spark discharge in the atmosphere, occurring within a thundercloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.
verb (used without object)
- to emit a flash or flashes of lightning (often used impersonally with it as subject):
If it starts to lightning, we'd better go inside.
adjective
- of, relating to, or resembling lightning, especially in regard to speed of movement: lightning speed.
lightning flashes;
lightning speed.
lightning
/ ˈlaɪtnɪŋ /
noun
- a flash of light in the sky, occurring during a thunderstorm and caused by a discharge of electricity, either between clouds or between a cloud and the earth fulgurousfulminous
- modifier fast and sudden
a lightning raid
lightning
/ līt′nĭng /
- A flash of light in the sky caused by an electrical discharge between clouds or between a cloud and the Earth's surface. The flash heats the air and usually causes thunder. Lightning may appear as a jagged streak, as a bright sheet, or in rare cases, as a glowing red ball.
Word History and Origins
Origin of lightning1
Word History and Origins
Origin of lightning1
A Closer Look
Idioms and Phrases
- catch lightning in a bottle. catch lightning in a bottle.
More idioms and phrases containing lightning
In addition to the idiom beginning with lightning , also see like greased lightning ; quick as a wink (lightning) .Compare Meanings
How does lightning compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Outside awarded MountainFlow a Gear of the Show award at last year’s Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, where we look at hundreds of products pitched to us at lightning speed over the course of a few days.
The video captures a thread of electric current, or lightning leader, zipping down from a thundercloud to meet another leader reaching up from the ground.
It took a violent mob of insurrectionists and a lightning bolt moment in this very room.
Scientists have finally gotten a clear view of the spark that sets off a weird type of lightning called a blue jet.
The first is like estimating the distance to a lightning strike by timing the delayed arrival of the thunderclap.
Should lightning strike and Hillary Clinton forgoes a presidential run, Democrats have a nominee in waiting.
Second, Michelle served as a lightning rod in the sense of drawing attacks away from other reform groups.
He made whatever was going on his own, and with such lightning speed you stopped concentrating.
There were flashes of lightning outside and the rumble of thunder.
Improvements in lightning tracking help scientists know where to send aircraft to look for fires.
The left heel followed like lightning, and the right paw also slipped, letting the bear again fall heavily on the ice below.
Spite, however, of punishments and prohibitions the use of tobacco spread with the rapidity of lightning.
Like lightning he turned and seized by the wrist a man who had already opened the bag and laid hold of some of its contents.
His only worry at the time lay in the dark sky above and the blue-white stabs of lightning that promised an electrical storm.
Another lightning flash blinded the girls and the thunder following fairly deafened them for the moment.
Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse