simoom
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of simoom
from Arabic samūm poisonous, from sam poison, from Aramaic sammā poison
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.
If you happen to be in Africa and stuck in a “hot, dry, suffocating sand-wind” which sweeps across the deserts at intervals during the spring, you should know that you are in a simoom.
From Time ● Mar. 20, 2014
There is nothing to be heard but the sharp whistle of the dry snow—the same dreary music which accompanies the African simoom.
From Northern Travel Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland by Bayard Taylor
Zarah was the one flower left in the desert over which the simoom had swept; her smile was to the bereaved mother as the bright smile of hope.
From Hebrew Heroes A Tale Founded on Jewish History by A. L. O. E.
It was sad to see the wounded drag themselves back to the woods, to escape the storm, more terrible than the blast of the simoom, sweeping over the field.
From My Days and Nights on the Battle-Field by Charles Carleton Coffin
He had not lived long enough under the hot breath of the simoom to have all the early associations withered and crisped.
From The Boys of '61 or, Four Years of Fighting, Personal Observations with the Army and Navy by Charles Carleton Coffin
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