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ribbon lightning

American

noun

a repeated lightning discharge in which successive strokes are displaced from each other by wind, resulting in a broadened appearance.

Etymology

Origin of ribbon lightning

First recorded in 1885–90

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.