cloud

American  

[klaud] / klaʊd /

noun

• clouds
  plural

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.

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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)

• clouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• clouded,
  past participle,  past
• clouding
  present participle

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:

   muddle, distort

6. to place under suspicion, disgrace, etc.

7. to variegate with patches of another color.

verb (used without object)

• clouds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• clouded,
  past participle,  past
• clouding
  present participle

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.

idioms

1. on a cloud, exceedingly happy; in high spirits.

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

2. under a cloud, in disgrace; under suspicion.

   After going bankrupt he left town under a cloud.

3. in the clouds,

   1. in a condition of absent-mindedness; lost in reverie.

   2. impractical.

      Their schemes are usually up in the clouds.

cloud British  

/ klaʊd /

noun

1. 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. not in contact with reality

8. 1. under reproach or suspicion

   2. in a state of gloom or bad temper

9. informal elated; very happy

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verb

1. 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 Scientific  

/ 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.

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cloud More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing cloud

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

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Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cloudlessness
  noun
• intercloud
  verb (used with object)
• cloudless
  adjective
• cloudlike
  adjective
• cloudlessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clouds
  plural

Participles

• clouding
  present
• clouded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cloud
  simple
• clouds
  simple
• have clouded
  perfect
• has clouded
  perfect
• am clouding
  progressive
• are clouding
  progressive
• is clouding
  progressive
• have been clouding
  perfect progressive
• has been clouding
  perfect progressive

Past

• clouded
  simple
• had clouded
  perfect
• was clouding
  progressive
• were clouding
  progressive
• had been clouding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cloud
  simple
• will have clouded
  perfect
• will be clouding
  progressive
• will have been clouding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cloud

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

Explanation

A cloud is a clump of water vapor that you can see in the sky. Clouds are sometimes white and puffy, and other times so big and gray that they completely block the sun. Clouds form when air rises and cools and the moisture in it condenses into a visible form. Any similar billowy mass is also a cloud, like a cloud of smoke over your campfire or a cloud of dust after your car peels out of the driveway. If you're gloomy or morose, someone might say there's a cloud over you — a figurative cloud of sadness. On the other hand, if you're "on cloud nine," you couldn't be happier.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cloud clouds clouded clouding

In effect, the surrounding electrons form a cloud that "screens," or cancels out, the magnetism of the atom.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

Some local fog patches are likely first thing, particularly in sheltered rural locations, before lifting to leave spells of sunshine and variable cloud for many.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

For several days this summer the Albanian city of Elbasan choked in a dense cloud of stinging smoke coming from the direction of its notorious steelworks.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

The financing is intended to help Oracle bridge the gap between when it has to pay for the hardware and when its cloud computing revenue starts coming in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

A fast-moving cloud was sailing right toward us.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

Rainmaker's flights use drones to soar into clouds because without clouds, "we can't do anything," he says, pointing to one of the key limits of cloud-seeding processes.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The clouds were made in the Netherlands by a firm with a history of building steel ship hulls that now specializes in building complex steel constructions like the clouds using digital data.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

There is also the phenomenon of pareidolia, the tendency to see images of animals, religious figures and other beings in clouds or pieces of toast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

As gravity gathered this material into dense clouds, stars began to form.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

As I did, a small white flake spiraled down from the thick clouds.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

But for U.S. consumers and the Federal Reserve, it’s one more problem in an inflation picture already clouded by rising oil prices.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 13, 2026

The outlook has clouded since after trade talks between Ottawa and Washington broke down and the U.S. administration in late August imposed new tariffs on imports from Canada.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will step up efforts to isolate Iran economically as he hosts G20 counterparts this week, a US official said Thursday, in a gathering clouded by war and trade tensions.

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

Still, her transformation of Parton’s clouded sunshine into a feral ache is stunning.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

The fog has rolled even farther back, a clouded gray wall miles off the shore.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

But inside the brain trusts of Silicon Valley, billions of investor dollars and years of tortured rationalist arguments are clouding a similar argument about artificial intelligence.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

Ash from the eruptions has been clouding the skies over eastern Sicily and has disrupted hundreds of flights at Catania International Airport in the past week.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

Today, severe corneal clouding often requires a full corneal transplant.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026

But no one who has worked in late-night television in recent years can dispute how financial challenges are clouding the format’s future.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Shay’s eyes narrowed, confusion clouding her face, as if her memories of the underground prison didn’t fit in with the rest of her pretty worldview.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Related Words

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