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
Their conclusion, after some painstaking research: the Utah objects were probably moths known as spruce budworms, illuminated by a common atmospheric phenomenon known as St. Elmo's fire.
From Time Magazine Archive
The burden and its bearer, hallowed by a pale glory as of St. Elmo's fire sank into the open grave, yet the sphinx sat stolidly holding the painted riddle in his stony hand—"Cui Bono?"
From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 01 by Brann, William Cowper
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.
