forked lightning

British

noun

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

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

From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2017

The last time I saw forked lightning was on the Isle of Skye!

From The Guardian • Dec. 26, 2010

There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023