thunderclap

[ thuhn-der-klap ]

/ ˈθʌn dərˌklæp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thunderclap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a crash of thunder.

something resembling a thunderclap, as in loudness or unexpectedness.

Nearby words

Origin of thunderclap

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thunderclap

And then (thunderclap) one of wine's darkest nemeses appeared: the artichoke.
The Secrets of Matchmaking|Katie Workman|August 11, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Like a thunderclap the prizefighter broke loose in a turbid stream of profanity.
Steve Yeager|William MacLeod Raine
He was dizzy, aching, and felt shaken to pieces when something went off like a thunderclap just behind him.
The Jungle Book|Rudyard Kipling
It all came like a thunderclap on Gil's friends here at Greendale, because we hadn't ever suspected things were going wrong.
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906|Lucy Maud Montgomery

But the sudden discovery of their daughter's friend being an "infidel" came with the shock of a thunderclap on the parents.
George Eliot|Mathilde Blind
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)

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

Word Origin and History for thunderclap

thunderclap

late 14c., from thunder (n.) + clap (n.1).

thunderclap

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of thunderclap

Examples from the Web for thunderclap

thunderclap

noun

thunderclap