thunder

[thuhn-der]

noun

1. a loud, explosive, resounding noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heated by a lightning discharge.

2. any loud, resounding noise.

   the thunder of applause.

3. a threatening or startling utterance, denunciation, or the like.

verb (used without object)

1. to give forth thunder (often used impersonally with it as the subject).

   It thundered last night.

2. to make a loud, resounding noise like thunder.

   The artillery thundered in the hills.

3. to utter loud or vehement denunciations, threats, or the like.

4. to speak in a very loud tone.

5. to move or go with a loud noise or violent action.

   The train thundered through the village.

verb (used with object)

1. to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.

thunder

/ ˈθʌndə /

noun

1. a loud cracking or deep rumbling noise caused by the rapid expansion of atmospheric gases which are suddenly heated by lightning

2. any loud booming sound

3. rare,  a violent threat or denunciation

4. to detract from the attention due to another by forestalling him or her

verb

1. to make (a loud sound) or utter (words) in a manner suggesting thunder

2. (intr; with it as subject) to be the case that thunder is being heard

3. (intr) to move fast and heavily

   the bus thundered downhill

4. (intr) to utter vehement threats or denunciation; rail

thunder

1. The explosive noise that accompanies a stroke of lightning. Thunder is a series of sound waves produced by the rapid expansion of the air through which the lightning passes. Sound travels about 1 km in 3 seconds (about 1 mi in 5 seconds). The distance between an observer and a lightning flash can be calculated by counting the number of seconds between the flash and the thunder.

2. See Note at lightning

thunder

1. The noise created when air rushes back into a region from which it has been expelled by the passage of lightning.

Other Word Forms

• thunderer noun
• thundery adjective
• thunderless adjective
• outthunder verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of thunder¹

before 900; (noun) Middle English thonder, thunder, Old English thunor; cognate with Dutch donder, German Donner; Old Norse thōrr Thor, literally, thunder; (v.) Middle English thondren, Old English thunrian, derivative of the v.; akin to Latin tonāre to thunder

Word History and Origins

Origin of thunder¹

Old English thunor; related to Old Saxon thunar, Old High German donar, Old Norse thōrr; see _Thor , _Thursday

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. steal someone's thunder,

   1. to use for one's own purposes and without the knowledge or permission of the originator the inventions or ideas of another.

   2. to ruin or detract from the effect of a performance, remark, etc., by anticipating it.

see under steal someone's thunder.

Example Sentences

While Alphabet has stolen some of Nvidia’s thunder in the artificial-intelligence conversation lately, the chip giant still seems to have the power to create winners in the stock market.

Read more on MarketWatch

But select Dynamic mode and an ominous thunder instantly appears on the aural horizon.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Off quick line-out ball, Lawrence looked set to thunder into contact.

Read more on BBC

In your head you could hear the distant sound of thunder.

Read more on BBC

This city may be small, but in 1926 it became immortal, the place where a fiesta, thundering hooves, and a novel collided to shape modern legend.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• detonation 
• explosion 
• roar 
• rumble