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forked lightning

British  

noun

  1. Also called: chain lightning.  a zigzag form of 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

Example Sentences

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But there’s such joy in writing conversation, especially when the voices of the characters take over and the words zigzag down the page like forked lightning.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 20, 2023

Face the east and between blasts of forked lightning the sky is midnight-black.

From BBC Aug. 29, 2018

There are violent cloudbursts across town and forked lightning out over the Med.

From The Guardian May 19, 2018

The forked lightning that spidered the sky, sending deer and rabbits skittering for cover.

From New York Times Jun. 12, 2017

I wondered what kind of weather she could be compared to and decided on a thunderstorm, very localized, with forked lightning.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

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