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chain lightning

American  

noun

  1. Chiefly Northeastern and Western U.S. lightning that seems to move very quickly in wavy or zigzag lines.

  2. bead lightning.

chain lightning British  

noun

  1. another name for forked lightning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of chain lightning

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

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.