thunderclap

[ thuhn-der-klap ]

/ ˈθʌn dərˌklæp /

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See synonyms for thunderclap on Thesaurus.com

noun

a crash of thunder.

something resembling a thunderclap, as in loudness or unexpectedness.

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Origin of thunderclap

First recorded in 1350–1400, thunderclap is from Middle English thonder clappe. See thunder, clap¹

Words nearby thunderclap

thunderation, Thunder Bay, thunderbird, thunderbolt, thunderbox, thunderclap, thundercloud, thunder egg, thunderhead, thundering, thunder mug

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use thunderclap in a sentence

Cranked to the max, the Gen 2 is capable of hitting 120 decibels—as loud as a thunderclap.
Gift Ideas for Fitness-Obsessed Loved Ones|jversteegh|November 10, 2021|Outside Online
Now, with the publication of her first book-length collection in English, “Moonlight Rests on My Left Palm,” in a lyrical translation by Fiona Sze-Lorrain, a new audience has a chance to hear the thunderclap.
Poet Yu Xiuhua became a viral sensation. Her first book-length collection in English deserves to bring her an even bigger audience.|Chris Littlewood|September 29, 2021|Washington Post
At Noether’s funeral, mathematician Hermann Weyl compared her sudden passing to “the echo of a thunderclap.”
Emmy Noether Faced Sexism And Nazism – 100 Years Later Her Contributions To Ring Theory Still Influence Modern Math|LGBTQ-Editor|July 15, 2021|No Straight News
For some, the revelation earlier this month hit like a thunderclap, upending how they thought about the school.
How one very old Census record spurred a reckoning at Johns Hopkins University|Susan Svrluga|December 25, 2020|Washington Post

This lurid embrace of art and life was not an isolated thunderclap.
The Life and Art of Radical Provocateur—and Commune Leader—Otto Muehl|Anthony Haden-Guest|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These changes, however, cannot be accomplished with a moral thunderclap.
Wanted: Humanitarians at Home|Leslie H. Gelb|April 6, 2011|DAILY BEAST
And then (thunderclap) one of wine's darkest nemeses appeared: the artichoke.
The Secrets of Matchmaking|Katie Workman|August 11, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The sudden thunderclap gives warning that beyond the calm horizon the storm is gathering.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Do these gentlemen really feel the thunderclap or the enchantment of an object of art?
Charles Baudelaire, His Life|Thophile Gautier
We imagined we had educated it out of them; they thought so, too; the Interdict woke them up like a thunderclap!
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
A sudden thunderclap startled them now into consciousness of the scene about them.
The Fire People|Ray Cummings
Then, a few days ago, there came a thunderclap; and teachers and girls were alike amazed to find that you were no longer a member.
Betty Vivian|L. T. Meade

British Dictionary definitions for thunderclap

thunderclap

/ (ˈθʌndəˌklæp) /

noun

a loud outburst of thunder

something as violent or unexpected as a clap of thunder

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

thunderclap

Origin of thunderclap

Words nearby thunderclap

Words related to thunderclap

How to use thunderclap in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for thunderclap