St. Elmo's fire
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of St. Elmo's fire
Named after St. Elmo (died a.d. 303), patron saint of sailors
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Together, we encountered a giant squid, watched lightning and St. Elmo’s fire crackling through the rigging, and caught glimpses of the snow-white whale himself.
From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2022
Lightning cracked the sky, and the blue light of St. Elmo’s fire danced around the fuselage.
From Washington Post • Nov. 20, 2021
It was hit three times by lightning bolts while the blue lights of St. Elmo’s fire danced around the nose of the plane.
From Washington Post • May 26, 2017
Discharge of static electricity, named St. Elmo's fire by mariners of the Middle Ages, who thought the phenomenon a good omen from their patron saint, is considered no danger at all.
From Time Magazine Archive
While others strove to collect their befuddled senses, this individual prated of "wind eighty miles per hour with moderate drift and brilliant St. Elmo's fire."
From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Mawson, Douglas, Sir
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.
